"If I come for the Champions Trophy, I'll show you...": Shami responds to Inzamam's tampering allegations

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Indian pacer Mohammed Shami has responded vehemently to former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq's accusations of ball-tampering against pacer Arshdeep Singh during the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 co-hosted by the USA and West Indies. 

In an interview at a local news channel, Inzamam alleged that Arshdeep's ability to reverse swing the ball in the 15th over against Australia was suspicious, implying foul play by the Indian team.

"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... 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 had said.

In an interview with Shubhankar Mishra on the YouTube show 'Unplugged,' Shami, in particular, took exception to Inzamam's comments and fired back.

“They had accused me of putting a device into the ball during the 2023 ODI World Cup. They recently brought out another foolish theory on Arshdeep Singh. I respect Inzamam-ul-Haq a lot, and one doesn’t expect him to make such statements. They are the ones who started this reverse swing, and when we do it, they have a problem," Shami said.

The right-arm pacer also called out the hypocrisy in the allegations, pointing out past incidents where Pakistani players were caught tampering with the ball.

“Before saying anything to the Indian bowlers, they should remember the past incidents when their players were caught while tampering with the ball. Pakistan players want to make their public fool, and when their team is not performing well, they come out with allegations,” he said.

The 33-year-old expressed his disapproval and urged them to stop deceiving the public with such outlandish theories. 

"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 behavior can happen elsewhere; these are just ways to fool the public," he said.

Shami concluded by challenging Pakistani players to prove their point if they believe reverse swing is achieved through wrongful means. He outlined plans to demonstrate the authenticity of bowling methods at the upcoming Champions Trophy in 2025.

“They were the first ones to introduce this craft, and if it is achieved using wrong ways, they should be held first. If I visit Pakistan for the Champions Trophy in 2025, I will take three balls along with me and will show them that there were no devices in them. I will cut the balls into two pieces in front of 20 people. I will also show them how the reverse swing is achieved,” he concluded.