Basit Ali, a former Pakistan cricketer, launched a blistering criticism against Team India and head coach Rahul Dravid for their underwhelming display in the World Test Championship final against Australia. The side led by Rohit Sharma struggled on multiple fronts, showing weaknesses in their bowling performance during the first innings and experiencing another failure of the top order in an ICC knockout match while batting.
While evaluating India’s performance at The Oval, Basit expressed his observation that, apart from Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, and Ravindra Jadeja, the rest of the Indian players seemed fatigued on the field. He specifically criticized Rohit Sharma’s choice to bowl first after winning the toss. Basit further remarked that India now requires a miraculous turn of events to emerge victorious in the World Test Championship final.
Basit Ali criticizes Rahul Dravid
“India lost the match the moment they chose to bowl worrying about the first two hours. And the kind of bowling that was on display was just like IPL. By lunch, the Indian bowlers appeared so happy as if they’d won the match. All India can do now is hope to get them out cheaply and hope for a miracle in the fourth innings. During the 120 overs that India fielded, I could see only 2-3 players being fit – Rahane, Kohli and Jadeja. The rest looked tired,” Basit Ali said.
Basit Ali did not hold back in his criticism of India’s head coach Rahul Dravid, giving him a low rating as a coach. He also raised concerns about the nature of the pitches that India had prepared during the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy series at home.
“I am a huge Rahul Dravid fan, have always been and will remain. He is a class player, a legend. But as a coach, he is absolutely zero. You prepared turning pitches on India. Just answer me this. When India travelled to Australia, were there similar wickets? They had bouncy pitches, right? God knows what he was thinking. Jab upar wala akal baant raha tha toh pata nahi kaha pahaado ke peeche chhupe huye thhe (God knows where he was when god was distributing brains),” he added.
