Ex-cricketer refutes Pakistani PM's claim of victory over India, reminds of loss to UAE

Following a tense T20 match between India and New Zealand in Christchurch, Pakistani former cricketer Basit Ali expressed high praise for the Indian team's performance on his YouTube channel. Analyzing the game, Basit Ali named young batsman Tilak Verma as the true hero of this victory, noting that thanks to him, India managed to win a match that seemed lost.

In his show, Basit Ali stated that when India's early wickets fell quickly, there was a feeling that the game had completely gotten out of control. It was at this moment that Tilak Verma demonstrated great skill by stabilizing the course of the match. He noted that Tilak did not take risks trying to hit the ball for big boundaries, but instead effectively used singles, doubles, and small boundaries.

He also positively commented on Captain Shreyas Iyer's decision to send Vaibhav Suryawanshi to the third position. Nevertheless, Basit Ali believes that the team composition could change if Ishan Kishan is able to return to fitness. Furthermore, Basit Ali highly praised the contribution of young Pakistani players to the sport, commending Naman Dhir and Nitish Kumar Reddy for scoring strong runs in the lower order, which helped turn the tide of the game.

Basit Ali criticized the captaincy of New Zealand's Mitchell Santner, stating that due to some tactical errors, New Zealand let go of a match that was theirs. Although Mitchell Santner played strongly with four wickets taken, as a captain he made decision-making errors. Basit Ali sharply hinted that the New Zealand players would think about how the match slipped away from them. He emphasized that in limited-overs cricket, the match does not end until the last ball is bowled.

In Basit Ali's opinion, this young Indian lower middle order not only proved its competence but also demonstrated how strong India's squad depth is.

At the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on October 23, 2022, the Indian team faced the Pakistani team in a T20 World Cup match. Despite India losing four batsmen with a score of 31 runs, Virat Kohli refused to give up.

Kohli, along with Hardik Pandya, formed a fifth-wicket partnership, scoring 113 runs. During this impressive partnership, the match was in a critical situation as 28 runs were needed in the last eight balls. At that time, Virat Kohli hit two sixes, which completely changed the course of the game.

The second-to-last over was bowled by fast bowler Haris Rauf. In this over, Virat Kohli hit a six by stepping back, which surprised the spectators. On the next ball, he hit another six over the fine leg. 12 runs were scored in two balls, and India's hopes were revived.

In the final over, India needed 16 runs to win. On the first ball of the over, Hardik Pandya was dismissed by Mohammad Nawaz. Then, three runs were scored in the next two balls. The following ball was a no-ball due to height, which Virat Kohli sent for a six. Kohli was dismissed by a bowl on the free hit, but the ball hit the stump and went towards the third position, and the Indian batsmen ran three runs.

After this, Dinesh Karthik was dismissed stumped while trying to hit a big shot on the fifth ball of the 20th over. India now needed only two runs to win, and Ravichandran Ashwin came onto the field. Mohammad Nawaz's next ball landed outside the legal stump, and the umpire called it a wide. This leveled the score for India.

Only one run remained to win. Ravichandran Ashwin remained calm under pressure and won the match for India by 4 runs, hitting the ball over the fielders on the last ball.

Virat Kohli scored 82 runs off 53 balls without getting out, including six fours and four sixes. For this outstanding performance, he was awarded the 'Player of the Match' award.

Pakistan secured a convincing victory over the strong English team in the second match of the trinational one-day series, defeating the opponent by a margin of 87 runs. This win marks the second consecutive major victory for the Pakistani team. Previously, the Pakistani team, which had previously beaten Sri Lanka, batted first and scored an impressive total of 302 runs.

After this, Pakistan demonstrated mastery in bowling, limiting the total score of the entire English team to just 215 runs in 38.4 overs.

Following this impressive triumph, the spirits of former Pakistani stars were lifted again. Recently, on a cricket show on a Pakistani television channel, former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar highly praised the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board). Notably, it was this Shoaib Akhtar who had previously criticized the PCB multiple times.

On the show, Akhtar stated that the PCB had decided to move forward with a new mindset. He mentioned meeting many players there, including fast bowlers with speeds of 161.3 km/h. Akhtar advised these young athletes: 'Son, you can break my record, but do not break your body.'

Akhtar also sharply criticized Pakistani players over the last 15 years, stating that they played 'materialistic cricket.' He proudly noted that the PCB has now implemented a policy of 'no nonsense' and 'spirit,' clearly informing players that if they want to play for personal statistics, they should stay home.

Not limiting himself to criticizing his own association, Shoaib Akhtar extended his remarks to world cricket. He stated that for the last 15–20 years, everyone had played selfishly, which led to the current situation. He added that although cricket has existed for 500 years, it is played correctly in only 10–12 countries, unlike football, which involves 200 countries.