The Indian pace troika, comprising Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj, has been sensational in the matches that they have played together in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
Notably, Shami warmed the bench for the first four games as the Indian team management opted to go with the two seam-bowling all-rounders in Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur.
However, Hardik’s ankle injury during the match against Bangladesh in Pune on October 19, which eventually ruled him out of the tournament, paved the way for Shami’s inclusion in the XI.
Since then, the Indian fast bowlers have been running through the opposition batting line-ups, bundling out teams like New Zealand, England, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Netherlands for 273, 129, 55, 83 and 250 respectively.
Such has been their dominance that some retired Pakistani cricketers are finding it hard to believe. In fact, former Pakistan batter Hasan Raza accused the Indian team of cheating, suggesting that their bowlers are getting “different and suspicious balls” in this World Cup.
However, former PCB chairman Ramiz Raja has rubbished Hasan’s conspiracy theory, saying India's supremacy with both the bat and the ball is "jaadugari (magic)".
"Yes it can happen that when Pakistani batsmen are batting, the cricket ball seems as small as a golf ball to them. That is the only difference. I don't think there's any other difference. Ye jaadugari hai (it's a magic),” Ramiz said on Suno News.
He added, “This control, swing, seam movement. This is greatness. This is a skill; we should appreciate this skill because at the end of the day, when players like these emerge, the level of cricket goes up. They are setting up the level, other teams have to reach their level. When a sub-continent team is doing like this, why can't Pakistan do this?"
Rohit Sharma and his men have qualified for the World Cup 2023 semi-final by winning their nine matches in the league stage. They will face New Zealand in the last-four clash at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on November 15.
