Shami slammed for disrespecting Inzamam

Basit Ali expresses his disappointment with Shami’s choice of words

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has criticized Indian pacer Mohammed Shami for his disparaging remarks about legendary batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq.

During the 2024 T20 World Cup, in an interview at a local news channel, Inzamam alleged that Arshdeep’s ability to reverse swing the ball in the 15th over against Australia was suspicious, implying foul play by the Indian team.

“Arshdeep Singh, when he was bowling the 15th over, the ball was reversing. Is it too early (for reverse swing) with the new ball? This means the ball was ready for reverse swing by the 12th or the 13th over. Umpires should keep their eyes open (to spot) these things... If it was Pakistani bowlers (reverse swinging the ball) this would have been a big issue. We know reverse swing very well and if Arshdeep can come in the 15th over and start reversing the ball, it means some serious work had been done before,” Inzamam had said.

In an interview with Shubhankar Mishra on the YouTube show ‘Unplugged,’ Shami, in particular, took exception to Inzamam’s comments and fired back.

“The team that performs against them gets targeted there. Suppose I bowled with the device and pressed the button incorrectly. I intended to bowl an inswinger, but it turned into an outswinger, resulting in a boundary. This kind of cartoonish behavior can happen elsewhere; these are just ways to fool the public,” he said.

While speaking on his YouTube channel, Basit voiced his disappointment with Shami’s choice of words, describing them as indecent and disrespectful.

“When Shami talks about Inzi bhai and calls him a cartoon, that’s not right. Inzamam has led this country and captained it. Shami, your choice of words isn’t good. We praise your bowling, but you should have chosen your words better. You didn’t pick your words well, and that hurt me,” Basit said.

“If you think Inzi bhai said something wrong, say it nicely. Don’t call him a cartoon and all that. Have some respect. He’s a senior. You should respect your seniors. If you don’t, cricket will make you cry 300 days out of 365 and only make you happy for 65 days. So, please don’t do this, it’s a personal request,” he added.

He emphasized the importance of showing respect to senior players, stating, “Be a bit more careful, you can’t just say anything anywhere. Whatever question is asked, you keep giving ‘behuda’ (indecent) answers. I’m using the right word, ‘behuda (indecent)’. Aapne behuda zabaan use kiya hai (You’ve used indecent language). Your elders probably never taught you this.”