Less than 10 days until the start of Champions Trophy 2025, host Pakistan has some choice headaches to resolve. In particular, one is the opener slot where Pakistan is trying out star batter Babar Azam in the recent game. It appears that Pakistan has promoted Babar to order as the talented 22-year-old opener Saim Ayub was ruled out due to injuries. The move has received much criticism, with former Pakistani cricketer Bass Ali denouncement of the decision.
“Is this some sort of book cricket? What are you doing?” Basit was talking on his YouTube channel.
“You’re playing without an opener and you’ve made Babar Azam the opener. I’m going for the specialists,” Basit said.
Babar managed only 10 runs as Pakistan fell into an overwhelming loss of 78 runs against New Zealand in the first match of the Try Series.
In that memo, Basit suggested that Pakistan should prioritize openings with specialized openers rather than wearing Babar shoes at the top of the order.
He also suggested that Pakistan should take leaves from Indian books, citing the ways India could make tough calls based on performance.
“I don’t like this statement, but I should learn from the Indian team management. (Yashasvi) Jaiswal sat down after a match. When Virat (Kohli) didn’t play, they brought in (Shrayas) Iyer. And he held his place,” Basit said.
“(Rishabh) Pant, in my opinion, is one of their main players and sits. You can’t choose a guy based on BPL (Bangladesh Premier League) performance.
Shreyas Iyer said he is not planning to play the first game of India’s ODI series against England, but that Kohli came in after suffering from knee problems. With swashbacking in the game for half a century, Ir kept his place.
South Africa is also losing to New Zealand, so even in the Try Series, the winner of the game between them and Pakistan will reach the final of the mini tournament.
Basit Ali has requested Pakistani whiteball coaches Aaqib Javed and Captain Mohammad Rizwan to make some changes to their 15-man team of the Champions Trophy.
“That’s my request. Do something. Take the opener and spinner with you at the squad,” Basit says.
Pakistan will launch its Champions Trophy campaign against New Zealand on February 19th. The team’s final date is February 12th.
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