After England announced their playing eleven two days ahead of the start of first Test against Pakistan in Multan, former batsman Basit Ali advised home team’s skipper, Shan Masood, on how to counter rival team’s tactics and respond bravely like India captain, Rohit Sharma.
“Shan Masood saab, counter-attack kar dena chahiye tha aapko (you should have counter-attacked),” said Basit, telling Masood that he too should have announced the Pakistan playing eleven in advance.
“It’s still not late, do it in the morning (Sunday) after assessing the pitch,” he said, before adding a bit of sarcasm. “What will happen at most? A mistake, so what! Mistakes happened against Bangladesh as well. The one who counter-attacks, wins.”
The first Test of the three-match series begins in Multan on October 7. Before this series, Pakistan were whitewashed at home by Bangladesh 0-2.
Basit then drew comparison with Rohit, citing the Indian captain’s brave decisions in the second Test against Bangladesh in Kanpur. Despite rain washing out two days, India went on to win by counter-attacking in their first innings and declaring well in time to keep the game alive.
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India eventually won by seven wickets to sweep the series 2-0 and strengthen their grip on top of the World Test Championship standings.
“Agar aap chahte hain ki Rohit Sharma ke jaise bahadur banein kaptaani mei, to faisle karein (if you want to be brave like Rohit in captaincy, then make decisions). If you take brave calls, then only you will win,” said Basit.
The 53-year-old Basit threw in the names of a few more Indian icons while stressing on the point that the Pakistan captain will have to turn the players he has at his disposal into winners.
“You don’t have a Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, (Ravindra Jadeja) or ‘Boom Boom’ Bumrah. So raise the confidence level of those you have with you. Tell them ‘you are my match-winner’. Simple theory,” Basit concluded.