Indian pacer Mohammed Shami gave an stern response to former Pakistani cricketer Hasan Raza regarding his ‘Ball Change’ theory during the Cricket World Cup. The Indian pacer stated that the people from the other side of the border could not ‘digest’ his success in the tournament.
“I am not blaming anyone. I pray that those 10 people come and perform like us. I don’t feel jealous at all. If you learn to enjoy other’s success, then you will become a better player. I don’t do anything. Whatever I have is God’s blessing,” Shami said in an interview with Puma.
“In their mind, they think they are the best. I think the best are the players who perform at the right time. But you are trying to create controversy, keep on saying stuff that ‘ball is looking in a different colour, you are getting a different company’s balls, ICC has given you a different set of balls’, Sudhar jao yaar (Dude, please do better),” Shami added.
Notably, Hasan Raza had earlier claimed that the International Cricket Council (ICC) is giving a different set of balls to ensure India capitalized more on the conditions and pitches as compared to other teams.
“Here I feel like the ball is getting changed mid-innings the way it is behaving. Whether it is the ICC that is providing the balls, or the umpires panel, or the BCCI, there should be an inspection on it. I think the balls should be checked,” Raza had said in an interview.
Shami ended World Cup as leading wicket-taker
Despite missing first four games of the World Cup campaign, Mohammed Shami ended the tournament as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament. The right-arm pacer scalped 24 wickets in just seven outings at an staggering average of 10.71. Shami also had three five-wicket and one four-wicket haul under his name during the recently concluded World Cup.
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