Wasim Akram blasts Hasan Raza for 'India using special balls' comments: 'Please refrain from making fun of us'

Former Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram has lashed out at Hasan Raza accusing the Indian bowlers of receiving favours from the ICC during the ongoing ICC ODI World Cup. The Indian pace attack has certainly been in sublime form during the home campaign. This was proven again when the Men in Blue demolished Sri Lanka to secure a resounding 302-run victory in Mumbai on 2 November. Mohammad Shami appeared at his devastating best once again to claim his second five-wicket haul of this World Cup. Mohammad Siraj also showed his calibre with the new ball and got three wickets under his belt. World Cup 2023:  News  |  Schedule  |  Results  |  Points table According to Raza, the Indian bowlers are using special balls in this campaign as the ICC and the BCCI are favouring the hosts. Akram, however, has rubbished the claims. He felt this sort of comment was nothing but an insult, not only for Raza himself but also for the entire cricket fraternity of Pakistan.   “I have been reading about it for the last couple of days. I want to have the same things these guys are having. It sounds like fun. Please refrain from making fun of us in public and keep your insults to yourself,” Akram said during an interaction on A Sports.  

While speaking on the Pakistani news channel ABN, Raza claimed that the Indian pacers were producing unusual swings in the last match. He reckoned the pitch at the Wankhede Stadium seemed to become bowling-friendly during Sri Lanka’s batting in the second innings. “The way Siraj and Shami were swinging the ball, it seemed like the ICC or the BCCI were giving them different and suspicious balls in the second innings. An inspection is required to be done on the ball. There might be an additional layer of coating for a better swing,” Raza said.   To make this point clear, Akram explained how the balls are chosen ahead of any match. The veteran said that the balls which will be used entirely depend on the umpires and the match referee. Both teams are given an opportunity to pick two balls from a set of 12 in the presence of the officials.   “The on-field umpire will keep the first ball on their right and the second one on left. Then they take the remaining balls to the dressing room while being accompanied by a lot of people. I don’t know who comes up with such a conspiracy theory,” Wasim Akram added.  

Akram, who has 916 international wickets under his belt, further made it clear that there is no such device which can assist in swinging the ball. “For the sake of argument, if you are trying to swing the ball we can say one is a heavy side, while the other is light. But you can’t swing the ball with a device,” he explained.   Thanks to his five-for against Sri Lanka, Mohammad Shami became the highest wicket-taker for India in the history of the ODI World Cup. The right-arm pacer has now 45 wickets in 14 games. The previous record was shared by Zaheen Khan and Javagal Srinath, who took 44 wickets in the global showpiece.