Basit Ali rips apart Rohit Shama-Virat Kohli led India's batters after New Zealand series loss

Former Pakistani cricketer Basit Ali criticized the Indian team for being overly confident ahead of the three-match Test series against New Zealand. Basit Ali also said that the New Zealand players were well-prepared and exposed India’s batting weaknesses in the first two Test matches of the series.

New Zealand defeated India by 113 runs in the second Test in Pune on Saturday, October 26. The visiting team secured a 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Notably, they won the first Test by eight wickets in Bengaluru. It is worth mentioning that it is New Zealand's first-ever series win on Indian soil.

India's Batting Got Exposed - Basit Ali

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Basit Ali said that India's batting got exposed as their top three batters didn't score hundreds. Ali said that Kiwis bowlers did well with the ball in both games. He added that pacers took 17 wickets in the first match, while spinners claimed 19 in the second.

"I had said chasing 350-plus will be too difficult. There had to be ton from one of the top three batters. India's batting got exposed. In the first match, Kiwi pacers took 17 wickets. In the second Test, spinners took 19 wickets. India players were neither able to play pacers well nor spinners. On a track that had pace and bounce (Bengaluru), India lost and on a spinning track, India lost as well," Basit said.

Indian Batters Have Failed To Perform In First Two Matches

New Zealand set a target of 359 runs for the Indian team in the final innings. The Men in Blue managed to score 245 runs in their second innings. Yashasvi Jaiswal was the top scorer for India, with 77 off 65 balls. However, the other batters failed to score half-centuries while chasing the mammoth total.

The Rohit Sharma-led team was bowled out for just 156 runs in their first innings of the Pune Test. Notably, India were bowled out for just 46 runs in their first innings during the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru. They also suffered a collapse after getting a good start in the second innings.

Indian Players Were Overconfident - Basit Ali

Basit Ali said that the Indian team might have become overconfident following New Zealand's recent 2-0 loss in Sri Lanka. Ali pointed out that New Zealand played the series with nothing to lose and surprised many by defeating India. Ali said that the Kiwis’ preparation played a crucial role in their success.

"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," Ali stated.

"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," he added.

Also read: ICC World Test Championship Points Table, WTC Table After IND vs NZ 2nd Test 2024