Indian captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday, June 26, dismissed allegations of ball tampering made by former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq following India’s 24-run victory over Australia in the Super 8 clash on June 24.

India played a crucial role in eliminating Australia from the tournament, as the latter needed a win after their unexpected loss to Afghanistan. India posted a score of 205/5 and restricted Australia to 181/7 in St. Lucia, while Afghanistan’s win over Bangladesh on the same day sealed Australia’s fate.

In his post-match comments, Inzamam-ul-Haq suggested that Indian bowler Arshdeep Singh had tampered with the ball, which was reversing in the 15th over.

“You can’t ignore the fact that when Arshdeep Singh was bowling the 15th over, the ball was reverse-swinging. Isn’t it too early for the new ball to start reversing? The ball was ready to reverse by the 12th-13th over. Umpires should keep their eyes open. We know a bit about reverse swing, so if Arshdeep Singh is able to reverse swing the ball, some serious work was done on the ball,” Inzamam stated.

Arshdeep Singh took 3/37 in his four overs, significantly contributing to India’s win.

When asked about Inzamam’s claims during a pre-match press conference ahead of Thursday’s semi-final against England, Rohit appeared irritated but firmly denied the accusations.

Rohit said, “What should I say now about this? You are playing in such hot sun, the wicket is so dry, the ball reverses automatically. It’s happening for all the teams, not only ours. All the teams are reverse swinging. Sometimes, it’s important to open your mind. It’s important to understand what conditions you’re playing in. The match is not taking place in England or Australia. That’s what I’ll say.”