"R*pe of cricket": Basit Ali's shocking remark on Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah's Test snub

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali is confident that the trio of Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah will be in Pakistan's squad that will tour South Africa later this year.

Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah were recently dropped for the final two Tests against England. The decision was taken by the PCB's new selection committee and it came as a shock to the cricketing world.

All these players are the most high profile players of Pakistan cricket currently but their performances have gone down in the last few months. Despite being dropped, Basit Ali was confident of them returning to the squad for the Test series in South Africa.

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"All these guys will be there in South Africa" - Basit Ali

While speaking on his YouTube channel, Basit Ali stated that the new selection panel wanted to show that they were here to do something different. He reckoned this reason behind the omission of these high-profile players. Basit was also confident these players will be there for the series in South Africa.

"They wanted to show that they are going to do different things during their stint. However, it can't be like this. All these guys will be there in South Africa. You will need big-hearted players there," Basit said.

"They are our heroes" - Basit Ali on Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah

The 53-year-old further noted the selectors' statement in which they said that these players have been rested. He called the players Pakistan's heroes and showed confidence in them to make a return to the team in the future.

"The selection committee said that these three guys have been rested, which was the right thing to say. Saying that they have been dropped is very wrong. If they say that they have been dropped, it would be rape of cricket. They are our heroes and will continue to be. There are going to be ups and downs in performances," he reckoned.

Pakistan had a poor first Test match at Multan which they lost by an innings and 47 runs. Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah too had poor outings in the match. Babar registered scores of 30 and 5 across two innings.

Meanwhile, none of the Pakistan bowlers were effective as England piled up 823-7 in their first innings. Shaheen Afridi finished with 1-120 in 26 overs while Naseem Shah picked up 2 wickets for 157 runs in 31 overs.

Basit Ali slams Shan Masood

Basit Ali also took a dig at Pakistan's captain Shan Masood for putting the blame on the bowlers for the defeat. Basit reckoned that the batters are equally responsible for playing irresponsible shots.

"Keep fooling the public by speaking good English in press conferences. He said that our bowlers didn't take 20 wickets. But why don't you see that you gave away 20 wickets? Saim Ayub got out playing a terrible shot. Abdullah Shahique scored a hundred, so you kept him in the team. He has given consistency to himself and these guys but not to the bowlers."

The second Test of the series will be played from October 15-19 on the same pitch at Multan. After the second Test, both teams will move to Karachi for the final Test match of the series.