Former Pakistan middle-order batter Basit Ali feels that the rivalry between the two stars of Javelin throw- Neeraj Chopra from India and their country’s Arshad Nadeem- is way bigger than the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), which is played between India and Australia in the longest format of the game.
The upcoming edition of the BGT is going to begin on November 22 at the Optus Stadium in Perth, which is highly anticipated by the cricketing fans.
Ahead of the series, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting and Indian coach Ravi Shastri gave their predictions for the much-awaited series, while the former player of the Green Brigade Basit Ali claims that there is no rivalry match between India and Pakistan.
“India vs Pakistan is on one side”- Basit Ali on BGT
The former Pakistan batter addressed that the commentators and others had been trying to create hype around the BGT events, while in the faceoffs between India and Pakistan, all the excitements were quite natural, as he also didn’t see much popularity of the Ashes also.
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“I think they are trying to create hype. The whole world knows that India vs Pakistan is on one side, and everything else is on the other side. Even Ashes isn’t that big. So, you are going to hear such statements now.” The veteran told in a video shared on his YouTube channel.
He also continued by saying that the bilateral cricket series between India and Pakistan would, anyway, get the better of other sports like Hockey, Javelin, or Kabaddi as it would outperform the BGT in any case.
Recently, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem scripted history by winning a gold medal at the Paris Olympics in Javelin Throw. The 27-year-old broke the ultimate Olympic record in just his second throw during the final against India’s golden boy, Neeraj Chopra, with a massive distance of 92.97 meters.
Nadeem also broke the record on his last throw with a whooping distance of 91.79 meters, while on the flip side of the coin, Chopra- the Tokyo Olympics Gold Medalist- won a silver level with a throw of 89.45 meters.
“Arshad Nadeem beat Neeraj Chopra at the Paris Olympics; otherwise, it was a certain gold medal for India.” The 53-year-old remarked during the video. “The Indian cricket team has made it clear that they won’t travel to Pakistan, so just conduct a bilateral series of hockey, javelin, or kabaddi between India and Pakistan in some other country.”
The Karachi-born concluded by addressing the India-Pakistan series bigger than the BGT, which is being played between India and Australia.
“You will know whether the India-Australia series is bigger or the India-Pakistan match is bigger. When Neeraj and Arshad compete in javelin, the whole world will be in front of the television, and the stadium will be full.” He concluded.
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India won the BGT during the 2017 series at home when they defeated the touring Australia side with a 2-1 series margin, with the third game in Ranchi of the four-match series ending in a drawn affair. Since then, the Blue Brigade beat the Aussies twice in an away series during the 2018 and 2021-22 seasons, besides retaining the BGT trophy recently at home in 2023.
Under new head coach Gautam Gambhir and bowling coach Morne Morkel, that will be the first acid Test for the national side, as they look forward to making a hat-trick of series win down under. The batters will need to score runs throughout the series constantly, which could be the difference in the result.