Basit Ali brutally hammers Pakistan before Champions Trophy, tells them to learn from India

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has criticized the performance of Pakistan in the recently concluded tri-series, where they lost in the final to New Zealand. Pakistan won just one out of three matches in the tournament.

Their only win came against South Africa while they lost to New Zealand in both the group stage and the final. After the dismal performance, Basit Ali asked the Men in Green to learn from India, who emerged triumphant in the three-match ODI series against England.

India defeated England 3-0 and all of those victories were convincing enough. Basit thrashed Pakistan's defensive approach in the tri-series and in the process, hailed India's adaptability to different pitches and conditions.

Watch: KL Rahul makes Rohit Sharma wait in the Indian team bus, later travels from a private vehicle in Dubai

Basit Ali asks Pakistan to learn from India

While speaking on his YouTube channel, Basit Ali analyzed Pakistan's slow approach in ODIs and compared it to India's style. He expects Pakistan's players to know how to play in home conditions and tackle the opposition spinners.

"You should know how to make runs on pitches like this one (Karachi). You should know how to tackle the bowler, but they couldn't do it. Use your brain. Let New Zealand play India, you will see (the difference)," Basit said.

Further speaking in the same video, Basit claimed that the Indian batters Kohli, Rohit, Pandya, and Gill will play bowlers like Mitchell Santner in a different way and show intent against them.

"(Mitchell) Santner was giving a loopy flight because he knew that the Pakistan batters won't step out to hit. Let him give that much flight to the ball against (Shubman) Gill, Rohit (Sharma), Virat (Kohli), (Shreyas) Iyer, (KL) Rahul, or (Hardik) Pandya. The ball will be deposited on the third tier in the stands," he explained.

Basit Ali compares Indian and Pakistani spinners

Basit Ali also compared the styles of Indian and Pakistani spinners. He claimed that the Indian spinners always look to pick up wickets by squeezing the opposition's scoring rate. However, Pakistan's spinners look to pick up a wicket off every ball without any proper plan.

"When the Indian spinners come on to bowl, their approach is to take wickets by stopping the flow of runs. For that, they bowl good overs (to create pressure) instead of trying to get a wicket every ball. Our (Pakistan) spinners want a wicket every ball. That's the difference," Basit added.

There is a huge difference in the spin bowling arsenal of both the Indian and Pakistan bowling line-up. Pakistan have selected just one specialist spinner Abrar Ahmed in their Champions Trophy 2025 squad with Salman Ali Agha and Khushdil Shah being the part-time options.

On the other hand, India have gone with five spinners in their squad. While Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy are the two specialist spinners in the team, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar are the spin bowling allrounders.

When will the India-Pakistan match be played?

India and Pakistan will play each other in Dubai on February 23. It is the much-awaited contest between the two nations who don't face each other in bilateral series anymore. India will play all their matches in Dubai due to the tournament's hybrid model.

While India will go into the match as favorites given their recent ODI form and squad composition, Pakistan haven't been at their best recently and will be looking to surprise their opponents with a spirited performance.