At a time when India's winning streak in the ongoing World Cup 2023, as a result of the impeccable form of the batters and bowling unit, has delighted fans, a startling claim by ex-pak player Hasan Raza has come under the radar of fans and the cricketing community.
His controversial statement that implied the ICC or the BCCI give different balls to the Indian team during the matches of the marquee event came after India booked a spot for themselves in the semi-final on Thursday with a crushing victory over Sri Lanka.
"We are not able to understand batsmen playing against other teams, but whenever India begins their bowling, bowlers like Shami and Siraj look like when we used to play Allan Donald and Makhaya Ntini in South Africa. There used to be a shine on the ball on one side, and there it used to seam and swing, but here, I think even the ball is getting changed in second innings. The way ICC is giving these balls, or maybe the third umpire or BCCI is giving¡I think these balls should be inspected," Raza said during a cricket show on Pakistan's news channel 'ABN'.
?In a sharp retort to this statement, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra took to X, formerly known as Twitter and questioned the nature of the show.
"Is it a serious cricket show? If not, please mention 'satire' 'comedy' in English somewhere. I mean¡it might be written in Urdu already but unfortunately, I can't read/understand it," Aakash Chopra tweeted.
According to ESPNcricinfo, Hasan Raza is one of the many Pakistanis who were given early entry into international cricket with a Test debut at the age of 14 years and 227 days. However, PCB later withdrew this record claim owing to suspicions about his birthdate and medical tests as his actual age was uncertain, but he was around 15 at the time of debut.?
Although he played admirably, he was soon scrapped and left in the wilderness while he continued to perform well at the domestic and A-team level.?
He got a call for the international team again in 2002-03 against Australia, where he scored 54* and 68, but both innings were slow. After that, he got opportunities in Two more Tests against Zimbabwe but was eventually replaced.?
Raza had some great milestones with the A team, during which he played a major role in their victory in the EurAsia Cup in Abu Dhabi in 2006. However, he risked his chances of making a comeback by joining the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League.
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