(Source X)
Basit Ali has sharply criticized the Pakistan cricket team management for their unexpected choice to field an all-pace attack in the opening Test of the two-match series against Bangladesh, starting Wednesday, August 21, at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
Under the leadership of Pakistan’s new red-ball head coach, Jason Gillespie, the team decided against selecting a specialist spinner. Instead, they opted for an all-pace lineup, including Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, and Mohammad Ali for the first Test.
Basit Ali criticizes Pakistan’s reliance on an all-pace attack against Bangladesh in the first Test.
The pitch at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium has been laid with a green top, signaling a deliberate strategy to leverage pace rather than spin for Jason Gillespie’s debut as head coach. Despite this, Saud Shakeel and Salman Ali Agha will provide part-time spin options for Pakistan.
Basit Ali has launched a scathing critique of the team management’s decisions. The former Pakistan selector has sarcastically questioned the rationale behind choosing an all-pace attack for the Rawalpindi Test against Bangladesh, particularly given the pitch’s evident favor towards pace bowling. He also ridiculed the decision to prepare a pace-friendly pitch without including a specialist spinner.
Additionally, Basit Ali highlighted the lack of a dedicated batting coach in the Pakistan team, suggesting with frustration that the PCB should appoint Babar Azam as batting coach, given that Gary Kirsten has been brought on board exclusively for white-ball formats.
Basit Ali said on his YouTube channel: “The opposition is like a team of kids. Do Pakistan have the courage to prepare a pitch like this (grass) against England? There was no need for a batting coach with Gary Kirsten at the helm, right?
So, now with Jason Gillespie, why do we need a separate bowling coach? Who is going to tell them about batting? Only Babar Azam is left. Make Babar the batting coach as well then.”
The former Pakistan coach’s criticism goes further than just team selection. He harshly condemned the PCB for being overly accommodating towards Gillespie, expressing frustration over Gillespie’s acceptance of a new coach for the National Cricket Academy’s (NCA) High-Performance Centre, as appointed by the PCB.
He highlighted that the new coach from Adelaide was hired without a thorough evaluation of his past performance, implying that he was not qualified for the position.
Basit Ali signed off by saying, “Jason Gillespie has played a lot of cricket and has also had a great coaching tenure with Yorkshire. But please don’t do such things in Pakistan. He is from Adelaide and brought someone from Adelaide for the role of NCA’s High-Performance Centre coach. Are the PCB officials sleeping? The NCA coach doesn’t even know how to do drills properly. He was previously removed from Adelaide.”
Significantly, Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, Karachi’s National Stadium, and Rawalpindi International Cricket Stadium are undergoing renovations in preparation for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The PCB has assured that these redevelopment and redesign projects will be finished before the event.
