NEW DELHI: Former Pakistan cricketer Hasan Raza‘s controversial remark on ICC providing ‘different ball’ to India bowlers at the World Cup drew sharp criticism on Friday with fans and even commentator Aakash Chopra lashing out at the baffling claims made by the former batter.
Raza’s comments came after the India pacers demolished Sri Lanka for a seventh straight win at the ongoing ODI World Cup.
With the pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj breathing fire with the new ball, Raza, on a Pakistan news channel claimed that the ICC or BCCI has been giving different balls to Indian pacers, implying that it was the reason that the pacers were doing so well in the tournament. Raza further went on to say that the issue should be investigated.
“We are seeing that when they are batting, they bat really well and suddenly the ball starts doing things when India bowl. There have been 7-8 close DRS calls that have gone in their favour. The way Siraj and Shami were swinging the ball, it seemed like the ICC or the BCCI were giving them different and suspicious balls in the second innings. There needs to be an inspection done on the ball. There could also be an extra layer of coating on the ball for swing,” Raza said while speaking to a channel called ABN.
“India had three fielders in place and even KL Rahul was standing long behind the stumps. It means that the ball had that hardness even after so many overs. Shami picked 5 wickets for some 18 runs, Siraj got 3. I can’t imagine that these are international batters and they’re all getting out playing across. It’s almost as if the ball that is used earlier vanishes. So I supposed this should be looked into,” Raza further said.
Reacting to the bizarre claims made by Raza, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra questioned the credibility of the show at which the former Pakistan cricketer was speaking.
“Is it a serious cricket show? If not, please mention ‘satire’ ‘comedy’ in English somewhere. I mean…it might be written in Urdu already but unfortunately, I can’t read/understand it,” Aakash wrote on X.
India on Thursday became the first team to qualify for the ODI World Cup semis with a commanding 302-run win over Sri Lanka.
Rohit Sharma and co. currently sit at the top of the standings with 14 points from 7 games. India next face South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.
World Cup 2023: India crush Sri Lanka, become first team to qualify for semifinals
Services Marketplace – Listings, Bookings & Reviews
