Indian captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday (June 26) rubbished the ball tampering allegations made by former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq against the side after their 24-run win over Australia in the Super 8 clash, played on June 24.
India played a big role in ousting Australia from the tournament as the latter needed to win at all cost after their shocking loss to Afghanistan. India scored 205/5 and restricted Australia to 181/7 in St. Lucia, while Afghanistan beat Bangladesh on the same day to seal their fate.
Speaking after the match, Inzamam-ul-Haq made some bizarre remarks and alleged that Indians tampered with the ball as Arshdeep Singh was extracting reverse swing in the 15th over.
"You can't ignore the fact that when Arshdeep Singh was bowling the 15th over, the ball was reverse-swinging. Isn't it too early for the new ball to start reversing? The ball was ready to reverse by the 12th-13th over. Umpires should keep their eyes open. We know a bit about reverse swing, so if Arshdeep Singh is able to reverse swing the ball, some serious work was done on the ball,"
Arshdeep Singh took 3/37 off his four overs and played an important role in India's victory.
When asked by a reporter about Inzamam's claims during his pre-match press conference ahead of Thursday's semi-final clash against England, Rohit seemed irked at first before he rubbished the remarks of the former Pakistan captain.
Rohit said, "What should I say now about this? You are playing in such hot sun, the wicket is so dry, the ball reverses automatically. It's happening for all the teams, not only ours. All the teams are reverse swinging. Sometimes, it's important to open your mind. It's important to understand what conditions you're playing in. The match is not taking place in England or Australia. That's what I'll say."
India will play defending champions England in Guyana, hoping to avenge their defeat in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final against the same opposition.
