ISLAMABAD: Indian cricket captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday rubbished ball-tampering allegations leveled by legendary former Pakistani batter Inzamam-ul-Haq, crediting his bowlers for their impressive performances in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
“Reverse swing” in cricket refers to a cricket ball moving in the opposite direction of a conventional swing. Reverse swing can be used as a lethal weapon against well-set batters after the ball is roughed up and old.
Discovered by Pakistani fast bowlers in the ‘70s, it proved to be a lethal weapon in the hands of former pacers Imran Khan, Sarfaraz Nawaz, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. However, Pakistani bowlers were also accused of tampering with cricket balls and roughening them up using unfair means to employ reverse swing.
Speaking as an analyst at a Pakistani TV show this week, legendary Pakistani batter Inzamam-ul-Haq voiced suspicion at Indian left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh’s ability to reverse swing a ball that was only 14 overs old during India’s recent World Cup match against Australia.
“Now what answer do I give to this,” a visibly annoyed Sharma told a reporter during a press conference when he asked about Haq’s allegations. “You’re playing on such a sunny day and the wicket is so dry that the ball reverses on its own.”
The Indian skipper said bowlers of other teams were also using reverse swing.
“Sometimes it is also necessary to open your mind a bit,” Sharma said in an indirect taunt to Haq. “Understand what conditions we are playing in. These matches aren’t taking place in England or Australia.”
India stormed into the semifinals of the ICC T20 World Cup after beating Australia by 24 runs on Monday. Singh was instrumental in India’s win, returning figures of 3-37 from his four overs.
India, undefeated in the tournament so far, will go up against a strong England squad in the semifinal on Thursday.
India’s Sharma rubbishes ball-tampering allegations by ex-Pakistani cricketer
https://arab.news/5fxp9
India’s Sharma rubbishes ball-tampering allegations by ex-Pakistani cricketer
- Former Pakistani batter Inzamam-ul-Haq raised questions on Indian bowlers’ ability to reverse swing a ball only 14 overs old
- Sharma says sunny weather, dry pitches in the Caribbean provide favorable conditions for bowlers to employ reverse swing
Rating firm S&P says it won’t rush Iran war downgrades, sees risks for countries like Pakistan
- Agency says it is monitoring indebted energy importers as higher oil prices strain finances
- Gulf economies seen better placed to weather shock, though Bahrain flagged as vulnerable
LONDON: S&P Global said it would not make any knee-jerk sovereign rating cuts following the outbreak of war in the Middle East, but warned on Thursday that soaring oil and gas prices were putting a number of already cash-strapped countries at risk.
The firm’s top analysts said in a webinar that the conflict, which has involved US and Israeli strikes against Iran and Iranian strikes against Israel, US bases and Gulf states, was now moving from a low- to moderate-risk scenario.
Most Gulf countries had enough fiscal buffers, however, to weather the crisis for a while, with more lowly rated Bahrain the only clear exception.
Qatar’s banking sector could also struggle if there were significant deposit outflows in reaction to the conflict, although there was no evidence of such strains at the moment, they said.
“We don’t want to jump the gun and just say things are bad,” S&P’s head global sovereign analyst, Roberto Sifon-Arevalo, said.
The longer the crisis was prolonged, though, “the more difficult it is going to be,” he added.
Sifon-Arevalo said Asia was the second-most exposed region, due to many of its countries being significant Gulf oil and gas importers.
India, Thailand and Indonesia have relatively lower reserves of oil, while the region also had already heavily indebted countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka whose finances would be further hurt by rising energy prices.
“We are closely monitoring these (countries) to see how the credit stories evolve,” Sifon-Arevalo said.
