Pakistan’s defeat against New Zealand in the tri-series final has been heavily criticised by former players, and Basit Ali didn’t mince his words in saying that the Champions Trophy hosts should learn to play ODI cricket from India.
While Pakistan lost two of their three matches in the tri-series, including the final, India thrashed England 3-0 to warm-up in style for the Champions Trophy that begins on February 19 with the match between hosts Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi.
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The Pakistan team’s performance in the tri-series swung like a pendulum, as they began with a loss to New Zealand and then chased down 352 to beat South Africa. But in the final they could only put up 242 on the board, which the Kiwis overhauled with ease to win by five wickets.
Analysing Pakistan’s play and comparing it with India’s approach, Basit said Pakistan are unable to figure out how to build an ODI innings based on whether they are batting first or second.
“(Coach) Aaqib (Javed) has a good thought process, but the people with him are this,” said Basit, signalling zero with his hands in a video on his YouTube channel.
“You should know how to make runs on pitches like this one (Karachi). You should know how to tackle the bowler, but they couldn’t do it. Use your brain,” he added.
Babar Azam (29), Mohammad Rizwan (46), Salman Agha (45) and Tayyab Tahir (38) got starts but couldn’t pace their innings after that, which could have helped Pakistan post a big total.
“Let New Zealand play India, you will see (the difference),” Basit continued. “(Mitchell) Santner was giving a loopy flight because he knew the Pakistan batters won’t step out to hit. Let him give that much flight to the ball against (Shubman) Gill, Rohit (Sharma), Virat (Kohli), (Shreyas) Iyer, (KL) Rahul or (Hardik) Pandya. The ball will be deposited on the third tier in the stands.”
He cited India’s approach against England to highlight the difference.
‘The way India thrashed England…they divided 50 overs into two parts — 30 overs and 20 overs. Iyer scores 78 in 64 balls but gets his eye in first. Players who play straight (in the V) with patience and don’t lose their concentration, those players will score a lot on this Champions Trophy….the way (Shubman) Gill is playing. I told you he has changed his style, that is called adapting (to the pitch and situation),” said Basit.
Gill was the top scorer of the three-match ODI series against England with 259 runs at an average of 86.33, including a century and two fifties.
Basit analysed Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman’s performance as an opener to further emphasise his point. He scored 10 in the tri-series final when Pakistan batted first and played knocks of 84 and 41 in the two matches where Pakistan chased.
“Batting first and chasing are two different things. You can see Fakhar performed well both the times Pakistan batted second because he had the target in front of him. That’s not the case if you bat first. He should play out the first 15-20 overs when batting first. He is a game-changer. If you like cover drives, straight drives or pull shots, and if you hit two boundaries and get out, then it will hurt the team,” said Basit.
He also criticised Pakistan spinners for getting desperate for wickets instead of webbing a net to fox the batters into mistakes by applying pressure.
“When the Indian spinners come on to bowl, their approach is to take wickets by stopping the flow of runs. For that, they bowl good overs (to create pressure) instead of trying to get a wicket every ball. Our (Pakistan) spinners want a wicket every ball. That’s the difference,” the former batter analysed.
At the press conference following Pakistan’s defeat in the tri-series final, interim head coach Aaqib had pointed out what Pakistan needs from its batters and bowlers during the Champions Trophy.
“If the team bats well down till number eight, you can score 350,” Aaqib said about batting. “When Haris Rauf returns to fitness and form, along with Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi and our spinners, this team would beat any other side.”
Basit said Pakistan players need to be street-smart to apply that.
“Aaqib made sense at his press conference but it can work only if his players understand that and deliver on those lines, and be sharp-minded. Otherwise, it’s like listening from one ear and letting it out from the other.”
After opening their campaign against New Zealand on February 19, Pakistan will take on archrivals India in Dubai on February 23.
India will play all their matches in Dubai as hybrid arrangement, which is part of an agreement between the International Cricket Council, the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Pakistan Cricket Board after India refused to travel to Pakistan for the tournament.