Bakht said that Rohit Sharma tosses the coin far away keeping the opposition captain from checking the result.
India defeated New Zealand by 70 runs in the first semi-final of the ICC World Cup 2023 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 15. Virat Kohli slammed his 50th ODI century, making 117, while Shreyas Iyer made 105 and Shubman Gill contributed 80*. Rohit Sharma gave the perfect start with 47 in 29 balls as India posted 397/4 in 50 overs.
While defending the huge total, at one point Kane Williamson (69) and Daryl Mitchell (134) put India in a position of concern with their amazing partnership. But Mohammad Shami starred with the ball, taking 7/57, the best bowling figures in ODIs by an Indian as the Men in Blue won the match.
While dissecting the match on Pakistan’s Geo News show, Sikandar Bakht brought forth a conspiracy theory suggesting that Rohit Sharma's method of tossing the coin could be a deliberate ploy to gain an unfair advantage.
He was quoted saying, “Shararat kar sakta hoon? Mai ek sawal kar raha hoon agar hum dikha sake toss ke waqt. Rohit Sharma jab toss karte hai vo dur fenkte hai aur dusra captain jaa ke kabhi nahi dekhta ki vo sahi usne call kiya,” which translates to, "Can I give you a conspiracy theory? At the time of the toss, Rohit Sharma throws the coin far from the range of any opposition captain. Thus, the opposition captain cannot go and cross-check about the call."
Bakhat implied that the opposition captain can’t verify the result of the coin flip as Rohit Sharma tosses the coin far away and the result is influenced in India’s favor.
However, his comments were taken with a grain of salt by everyone on social media. Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra shared a photo with a quote from Chili Davis which read: “Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional.”
On the other hand, Irfan Pathan simply said that this was a ploy to become famous: He posted: “It’s called blame Indian cricket and get famous.”