The former Pakistan middle order batter, Basit Ali, has laughed at the Indian head coach, Gautam Gambhir, for the blue brigade’s jaw-dropping 184-run defeat in the fourth Test of the five-match series in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) to be 2-1 behind, as they lost seven wickets in just around an hour.
It was the wicket of Rishabh Pant, who looked to hook the short ball from Travis Head, who was caught at mid-on, which triggered the collapse in the blink of an eye. The top order for his fixture had a change in it as Rohit Sharma, the captain, decided to open with KL Rahul slotted at three. But except Yashasvi Jaiswal, none of the top six batters could enjoy time in the middle.
Basit Ali questioned the role of the chief coach, Gautam Gambhir, and his support staff, including the batting coach Abhishek Nayar and others.
“Shabash hai Gautam Gambhir saab ko. One-day mei to bada left-right combination kar rahe the. Aaj bhejna tha No. 6 pe Nitish (Reddy) ko. Chahe woh jaldi out ho jata, pata toh chalta kuchh kiya aapne.” Basit Ali expressed, this during a video uploaded on his YouTube channel.
“Pata nahi kaun batting coach hai jisko yeh nahi pata ki kis tarah survive kiya jata hai aur kis bowler ko kis tarah khela jata hai.” The former batter of the Green Brigade remarked in the video.
Basit Ali slams Rishabh Pant for ‘brainless’ shot during MCG Test
Every few teams in the game use specific coaches for formats, as England used to have in the past, but now has changed with their red-ball coach, Brendon McCullum, carrying the responsibility of the side across the formats.
Basit Ali feels that it’s high time that the Indian side also walks in the route of various coaches in different forms of the game.
“This is the time for India to appoint separate coaches for white ball and red ball. If they don’t do it, the team will dip further.” The Karachi-born advised.
Having put into bowl first, India conceded 474 runs in the first innings, as Steve Smith celebrated a huge century, besides contributions from half-centurions, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja, while Pat Cummins also smashed 49 runs. The tourists were in a spot of bother before Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar stabled the innings.
In the second innings, the Rohit Sharma-led were ahead in the contest, having found Australia at 91/6, but couldn’t hold the momentum as the last pair of batting took the game away, while the fourth innings batting of the visitors let them down terribly.
Also Read: Rohit Sharma And Virat Kohli Blamed By Basit Ali For Indian Team’s Poor Performance In Australia
“Bohot hi bekar cricket kheli (very poor cricket played). Brilliant planning by Australia. They didn’t give up and believed in themselves. That’s the difference between batters of the ’90s and those who came after 2010. The ones from the ’80s and ’90s could understand the opposition’s plan quickly, that this player has come on to buy a wicket — the way Head came on. A player from the past would not have got out; even if he played a shot, it would have been a grounded one.” Basit Ali highlighted this in the same video.
Rishabh Pant ne wohi bewakoofi kari. Chhakka marne gaye. Kya hua? Kisko nuksaan hua? Mulk ko aur team ko. That shot changed the entire match. Upr wale ne yeh (pointing at his brain) diya hai na, isko use karte hain.” The former batter concluded.
India now goes into the fifth Test of the series at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), being 2-1 behind, and will need to win that contest to retain the trophy and keep themselves alive in the final qualification of the WTC 2023-25.