Basit Ali, a former Pakistani cricketer slammed India for their shocking series defeat against New Zealand at home. The Black Caps comprehensively dominated the second Test in Pune, defeating India by a big margin of 113 runs at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium. It was India’s first Test series defeat at home since 2012, this broke their 12-year streak and New Zealand created history by winning a Test series in India.
Interestingly, New Zealand started the series on a low as they were whitewashed 2-0 by Sri Lanka. Success against India, therefore, was all the more impressive. Ali pointed out that India looked a bit overconfident as New Zealand had not done too well lately, but appreciated the thorough preparation by Tom Latham’s team which helped them achieve this fantastic result.
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Overconfidence, A Reason Behind India’s Loss?
“The match India won against Bangladesh in two days and New Zealand’s 2-0 defeat in Sri Lanka, the team might have thought they would beat the Kiwis easily. This means, Indian management and Indian players were overconfident. New Zealand did their homework. They had nothing to lose. No one would have thought that the Kiwis might be able to defeat India. Even New Zealand themselves wouldn’t have thought of something like this. But they did their homework,” said Basit on his Youtube Channel.
No Mohammed Shami In Border-Gavaskar Trophy Squad
Simultaneously, Ali was shocked by Mohammad Shami not being selected for the Test series. He even went on to say that Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh must be called in but then be warned not to burden Jasprit Bumrah. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be starting from November 22, with the first Test taking place in Perth.
“I am surprised why there is no Mohammed Shami in the squad for the Australia tour. You have put all the load on Bumrah. Arshdeep (Singh) could have been in the squad because he brings variety. In this team, India’s fast bowling is not complete without Shami. Without Shami, India might face problems in Australia. In Australia, your weapon is fast bowling. India will have problems in Australia,” he added.
After two successive losses, the hope of India getting a qualification into the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) have taken a great hit. In order to keep themselves in the contention, India needs to win four of their six remaining matches as they prepare to take on New Zealand in the third test at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai from Friday, November 1.
