Former Pakistan captains Inzamam-ul-Haq and Saleem Malik have accused Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh and his team of altering the ball's condition during their T20 World Cup Super 9 match against Australia. Inzamam claimed that India must have tampered with the ball in the middle overs to enable Arshdeep to achieve a reverse swing with the new ball. Both Inzamam and Malik criticised the umpires for not being vigilant, with Malik suggesting that officials tend to favour certain teams, including India.
Inzamam argued that achieving a reverse swing with a new ball is challenging unless its condition is modified. He stated, "When Arshdeep Singh was bowling the 15th over, there was reverse swing. With the new ball, it is too early. This indicates that the ball was tampered with around the 12th or 13th over to get a reverse swing. Therefore, the umpires should keep their eyes open," during a discussion on 24 News.
Malik echoed this sentiment, adding, "There is a saying that the umpires keep their eyes closed for some teams, and India is one of them. I remember getting fined for reporting a similar situation during a game against Pakistan."
Inzamam also suggested that if Pakistani bowlers were involved in a similar situation, the umpires would have taken more stringent actions. He remarked, "If this was the case with the Pakistan bowlers, there would have been a lot of discussion on the same. If Arshdeep's ball is reversing in the 15th over, it is evident that something was done to the ball."
Currently, Arshdeep leads the wicket-taking charts for India in the ongoing tournament. With figures of 3 for 37, he has climbed to the second spot in the tournament's wicket-takers list, having taken 15 wickets in six games, while Afghanistan's Fazalhaq Farooqi leads with 16 wickets in seven games.
After the match, Arshdeep credited his success to Jasprit Bumrah's exceptional bowling throughout the tournament. He said, "A lot of credit goes to Jassi bhai (Jasprit Bumrah) because he puts a lot of pressure on the batters - he gives, what, three or four runs in an over - so batters come hard against me, and I just have to try and bowl my best ball, which often results in wickets."