Naseem Shah celebrates the wicket of Kane Williamson. (ICC Mediazone)
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has made a scathing attack on Pakistan’s national cricket team and country’s economy ahead of their must-win game against India in the ongoing Champions Trophy. Pakistan will face their arch-rivals India at the International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Sunday.
“Agar one-sided hota hai, toh ab TV bhi nahi tootenge kyunki Pakistan mei mehangai bahut zyada hai. Ab zabaan se hi har cheez hogi (If Pakistan will lose one-sided against India, now the fans will not thrash their TV sets because of country’s economic situation. Now there will be only voiced opinion,” Basit Ali, who has played 19 Tests and 50 ODIs for Pakistan said on his Youtube Channel.
Basit Ali also admits if Pakistan will manage to beat India in Dubai then it will be a big upset.
“India are favourites. There is no doubt about that. In my opinion, if Pakistan manage to beat India, it will be an upset because our cricket has gone down and is at all time low,” he said.
Basit Ali pointed out the issues in the current Pakistan squad picked for the Champions Trophy.
“Who will bat at No 3, nobody knows. They might ask Usman Khan to open with Imam and bring Babar Azam at No 3,” he said.
“Fakhar Zaman is out. Now Pakistan’s batting line-up from number one to five similar. If there car is running in the third gear, then it will stay in the third gear. ut won’t be able to switch into turbo mode in the last five or 10 overs,” he added.
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India have won their first match against Bangladesh by six wickets in Dubai. Meanwhile, Pakistan the defending champions and hosts lost their opening match against New Zealand by 60 runs in Karachi.
“Pakistan should now play cricket with bat and brain, not with the mouth,” said Basit.
The 54-year-old also took a sly dig on Pakistan Cricket Board’s effort to renovate the stadiums instead of building a strong team.
“The amount of money they spent in building the stadiums, they could have built a good team in half of that amount.
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“But to build a team you need intelligence. What is your vision? What’s your thinking? How do you view a player’s talent? These are the important things.”
