Cricket

Basit Ali asked to explain claim of India deliberately losing its World Cup fixtures to assure Pakistan’s 2019 World Cup exit

Gurpreet Singh
|PublishedJul 26, 2019

Basit Ali asked to explain claim of India deliberately losing its World Cup fixtures to assure Pakistan's 2019 World Cup exit

Basit Ali asked to explain claim of India deliberately losing its league matches to assure Pakistan’s exit from 2019 Cricket World Cup

Former Pakistan player Basit Ali had faced widespread criticism from scores of people for baseless comments on the Indian team during the league stages of the recently concluded 2019 Cricket World Cup in England.

The 48-year-old, who has played 50 ODIs and 19 Tests for Pakistan, had commented that India would deliberately lose its last two league matches against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to make sure that Pakistan is prevented to seal a semi-final berth in the ongoing World Cup.

What was more remarkable was that he dismissed the fact that Cricket is a game of chances, and to prove his point gave the reference of the 1992 World Cup where, according to him, New Zealand had deliberately lost its final league match versus Pakistan, in order to play the semi-final match at their Home ground.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) seek an explanation from Basit for his comments

The Pakistan Cricket Board has put former batsman Basit Ali’s appointment for a coaching assignment on hold and sought an explanation from him for suggesting that India would intentionally lose matches to knock Pakistan out of the recent World Cup.

A source in the PCB told PTI that Ali’s appointment as a regional coach in Karachi has been held up as the Board is now giving second thoughts regarding their decision to appoint him.

“The board, in fact, conveyed to Basit in clear terms that since he was a Test player and working for them on assignments he should explain and avoid his reckless comments on television,” the source said.

PCB found itself in an embarrassing position

“The PCB found itself in an embarrassing situation because of the reckless comments by Basit which were without any evidence or substance as internationally this hurt the image of Pakistan cricket,” the source stated.

“The thing is that the PCB now has second thoughts about Basit as Karachi regional coach and wondering that if they appoint him what impression this will create internationally since Pakistan is a senior member of the International Cricket Council,” he added.

PCB had shortlisted Basit for a coaching assignment in Karachi region but has now put that decision on hold.

“Basit was expecting to be issued a contract soon but this has not happened as yet,” the source said.

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About the author

Gurpreet Singh

Gurpreet Singh is a Cricket writer at The Sportsrush. His platonic relationship with sports had always been there since childhood, but Cricket managed to strike a special, intimate nerve of his heart. Although his initial dream of playing the sport at the highest level couldn't come to fruition, Gurpreet did represent the state of Jharkhand at the under-14 level. However, almost like taking a pledge to never let the undying passion for Cricket fade away even a tad, he made sure to continue the love relationship by assigning the field of journalism as an indirect Cupid. He thus, first finished his bachelor's in journalism and then pursued the PG Diploma course in English journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). Soon after and since 2019, he has been working at The Sportsrush. Apart from sports, he takes keen interest in politics, and in understanding women and gender-related issues.