Basit Ali, the former Pakistan player, made a huge claim that Australia will be scared of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli when BGT 2024-25 begins down under in November later this year.
The wave of excitement has started to build around the rivalry between India and Australia as the series inches closer to its commencement in November. India will play a five-Test series in Australia for the first time since 1991-92.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 season will begin on November 22, with the opening match planned for Perth. The day-night Test begins on December 6 at Adelaide Oval, with the remaining three matches taking place in Brisbane (December 14-18), Melbourne (December 26-30), and Sydney (January 3-7).
Australia playing mind games- Basit Ali
Basit Ali, a former Pakistan cricketer, feels Australian players are playing “mind games” ahead of the much-anticipated Border Gavaskar Trophy series against India.
Australia Test captain Pat Cummins recently named Rishabh Pant as the hitter to watch out for, ahead of captain Rohit Sharma, veteran Virat Kohli, and “national treasure” Jasprit Bumrah.
Basit Ali believes Australia is playing mind games, and that India’s veteran trio will be on their minds.
“They are playing mind games. Australia will be scared of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Pant has scored runs recently. They are playing mind games. They are trying to target Pant. This is their mindset. They are showing something else and are thinking about other things,” Basit said on his YouTube channel.
On the Willow Talk podcast, Lyon predicted that Australia will whitewash India by clinching a “5-0 series win.”
Basit slammed Lyon as well and claimed that such words were inappropriate for a cricketer to make. He even asked India’s seasoned spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, to respond to Lyon’s comment on India vs Australia.
“I will only say one thing about Nathan Lyon’s stupid statement that Australia will defeat India by six Tests, but only by words. In the past two series, India have dominated Australia. Such comments don’t suit cricketers. Ricky Ponting or former cricketers can make such statements. I request Ashwin to reply back and say that India will defeat Australia by 5-0,” Basit Ali said.
India has held the Border-Gavaskar Trophy since 2017, while Australia last won it at home in 2014–15. Since then, India has beaten Australia at home in 2017, 2022-23, and on Australian soil in 2018-19 and 2020-21.
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