Indian pacer Mohammed Shami is under hot waters as he has been criticised by former Pakistani players for making inappropriate remarks about Inzamam-ul-Haq.
Inzamam had said during the T20 World Cup 2024, which India won, that the umpires should be proactive during India’s bowling as the Men in Blues were getting unusual help from them.
Shami did not appreciate the former Pakistan captain’s comments and said, “The team that performs against them gets targeted there. Suppose I bowled with the device and pressed the button incorrectly. I intended to bowl an inswinger, but it turned into an outswinger, resulting in a boundary. This kind of cartoonish behaviour can happen elsewhere; these are just ways to fool the public.”
However, Basit Ali has slammed Shami and said that he should have been more careful while talking about Inzamam.
"When Shami talks about Inzi bhai and calls him a cartoon, that's not right. Inzamam has led this country and captained it. Shami, your choice of words isn't good. We praise your bowling, but you should have chosen your words better. You didn't pick your words well, and that hurt me," said Ali on his YouTube channel.
"If you think Inzi bhai said something wrong, say it nicely. Don't call him a cartoon and all that. Have some respect. He's a senior. You should respect your seniors. If you don't, cricket will make you cry 300 days out of 365 and only make you happy for 65 days. So, please don't do this, it's a personal request.
“Be a bit more careful, you can't just say anything anywhere. Whatever question is asked, you keep giving indecent answers. I'm using the right word, indecent. You've used indecent language. Your elders probably never taught you this," he concluded.
During the T20 World Cup 2024, Inzamam questioned Arshdeep Singh’s ability to reverse swing in the ball in the 15th over.
"Arshdeep Singh, when he was bowling the 15th over, the ball was reversing. Is it too early [for reverse swing] with the new ball? This means the ball was ready for reverse swing by the 12th or the 13th over. Umpires should keep their eyes open [to spot] these things,” Inzamam had said.
“If it was Pakistani bowlers [reverse swinging the ball] this would have been a big issue. We know reverse swing very well and if Arshdeep can come in the 15th over and start reversing the ball, it means some serious work had been done before.”
- Inzamam Ul Haq