Former Pakistan speedster and legendary cricketer Wasim Akram has slammed former Pakistan teammate Hasan Raza's comments for his claims that the Indian bowlers were being given different balls to bowl with in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023.
The cricketer-turned-commentator reckoned such comments were an insult not only to Raza, but to Pakistan's entire cricket fraternity.
“I have been reading about it from last couple of days. I want to have the same things these guys are having… sounds like fun. Beizaati apni to karani hi karani saddi bhi na karwao puri duniya vich (Don’t make fun of us in front of the world, please keep those insults to yourself),” Akram said on A Sports.
Earlier, former Pakistan batter Hasan Raza accused the Indian team of deception, claiming that the ICC and BCCI are favoring Indian bowlers by providing them with special balls.
“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. An inspection is required to be done on the ball. There might be an additional layer of coating for a better swing,” Raza said.
To emphasize his point, Akram described how the balls are chosen prior to any match. According to the veteran, the balls that will be used are entirely up to the umpires and the match referee.
In the presence of the officials, each team is given the opportunity to select two balls from a set of twelve.
“The on-field umpire will keep the first ball on their right and the second one on left. Then they take the remaining balls to the dressing room while being accompanied by a lot of people. I don’t know who comes up with such a conspiracy theory,” Akram revealed.
Akram also stated that there is no such device that can assist in swinging the ball. "For the sake of argument, if you're swinging the ball, we can say one side is heavy and the other is light." "However, you can't swing the ball with a device," he clarified.
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