Former Pakistan batter Basit Ali has slammed India’s star pacer Mohammad Shami for his 'cartoon-giri' comments while reacting to Inzamam-ul-Haq’s reverse swing allegations.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Basit expressed disappointment over Shami's choice of words, calling them 'behuda' (indecent) and disrespectful.
"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," Basit said.
"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," he added.
For the unversed, Inzamam had stirred a controversy during the T20 World Cup 2024 by claiming that Indian bowlers might be tampering with the ball.
The reason behind his doubt was left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh generating a reverse-swing in the 15th over of Australia's innings during the Super 8 fixture in St Lucia.
Nearly a month later, Mohammad Shami lashed out at the ex-Pakistan skipper for his ball-tampering accusations.
Shami also rubbished the bizarre allegations made by former Pakistan players during the 2023 World Cup. It was claimed that the Indian fast bowlers were getting “different and suspicious balls” in the showpiece tournament at home.
"Pakistanis were never happy with us and will never be - someone said we are being given a different ball, someone said there is a chip in the ball. I have previously mentioned that if I ever get an opportunity or a platform in the future, I would definitely like to open the ball and show whether there is any device inside or not. If your bowlers do swing & reverse swing then it is skill, if we do then, we are tampering with ball & chip on the ball," Shami said on Shubhankar Mishra's YouTube podcast.
In response to Inzamam's allegations, Shami added: “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).”
Shami's remarks left Basit Ali upset. He highlighted the need for respect towards senior players, asserting, “Be a bit more careful, you can't just say anything anywhere. Whatever question is asked, you keep giving 'behuda' (indecent) answers. I'm using the right word, 'behuda (indecent)'. Aapne behuda zabaan use kiya hai (You've used indecent language). Your elders probably never taught you this."
Notably, Inzamam had questioned how Arshdeep managed to reverse the ball in the 15th over against Australia and asked the umpires to keep their eyes open to spot these things.
"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 on Pakistani news channel.
