Former Pakistan captain Basit Ali said he was relieved that the team doesn’t play bilateral series against India after seeing them suffer a 61-run loss to the Men in Blue in the 2026 T20 World Cup on Sunday.
Basit said that if the countries’ cricketing relations were normal, India’s B and C teams would’ve beaten Pakistan.
Asked to bat on a tacky Premadasa surface, India lost Abhishek Sharma early to Salman Ali Agha. Ishan Kishan then dominated proceedings, sharing an 87-run stand with Tilak Varma while launching a calculated assault on Pakistan’s spinners.
He reached a 27-ball fifty and scored 77 off 40 deliveries before being dismissed, as India posted 175 for seven despite a brief middle-order wobble. Late contributions from Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube ensured a competitive total.
In reply, Pakistan faltered from the outset. Hardik Pandya struck in the first over, and Bumrah dismantled the top order, reducing them to 13 for three. Axar Patel removed Babar Azam soon after. Pakistan never recovered and were bowled out for 114, handing India a comprehensive win.
“It’s a relief that we don’t have a series against India. We only face them in bilateral series, otherwise their B or C team would beat us. Our team is nowhere near the level of the top five teams,” Basit said in a YouTube video.
He was particularly critical of Babar Azam, the highest run-scorer in T20Is, who got out for 5 (7).
“Babar had a great chance to play a long innings today. He could have batted at a run a ball after three wickets went down early and taken the game deep. But he got out playing across the line to a left-arm spinner… Babar has scored the most runs. But how many games has he won for the team?”
Referring to Shadab and Mohammad Nawaz, Basit said “waise to chhoti teamon ke aage 15 ball pe 30 run bana lete ho. Aaj karo na (you make 30 in 15 balls against smaller teams. Do that today).”
