4 min readUpdated: Mar 1, 2026 10:32 AM IST<\/p>\n
By the time Basit Ali settled in to record his post-mortem on his YouTube channel TheBasitAliShow, Pakistan were already out. What followed was a strong criticism of the selectors, the coaching staff, the pundits cheerleading from the sidelines, and the broader culture he believes has been quietly strangling Pakistani cricket for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no regrets and there\u2019s nothing to be ashamed of,\u201d he said about Pakistan\u2019s exit from the world cup.
The bare facts gave him plenty to work with. A 176-run partnership between Sahibzada Farhan, \u201cthe hero of the tournament from Pakistan,\u201d and Fakhar Zaman had put Pakistan in a position to do something. Then five overs happened: eight wickets, 49 runs, elimination. \u201cJust imagine,\u201d Basit said on TheBasitAliShow. \u201cIf Pakistan had scored 65 runs instead of 36 in those final overs, they wouldn\u2019t have been eliminated from the semis.\u201d<\/p>\n
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He was quick to add, though, that New Zealand were better, and more deserving to play in the semifinals.
\u201cThey worked harder. Their mindset when it came to cricket was just stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n
The most sustained anger was reserved for the handling of Babar Azam and what Basit saw as Mike Hesson\u201ds public undermining. \u201cHe openly said that Babar lacks intent in the powerplay and his strike rate is so low,\u201d Basit said. \u201cIf he\u2019s not suitable after 10 slow overs, then why was he selected in the team? Who picked him, and who\u2019s going to hold the head coach accountable?\u201d<\/p>\n
Babar\u2019s position in the order had been another source of irritation all tournament. \u201cI\u2019ve said this on TV before \u2014 don\u2019t bat Babar at number four, that spot just doesn\u2019t suit him,\u201d Basit said. \u201cYou can\u2019t even make that sacrifice \u2014 that the guy should come in at number three and score runs. So your intentions weren\u2019t right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Usman Khan got a mention too. Forty-four runs off 20-odd balls against India, then quietly shuffled back down the order and forgotten about. \u201cHe\u2019s just not a favourite, honestly,\u201d Basit said, with the matter-of-fact tone of someone who has watched this particular pattern repeat itself too many times to be surprised by it. \u201cThe truth is, he\u2019s not favoured.\u201d<\/p>\n
The absence of Abrar Ahmed was a thread Basit had been pulling at all tournament, and he wasn\u2019t done with it. \u201cThe England match we lost \u2014 Abrar wasn\u2019t there. Today, Usman Tariq got hammered, but Abrar needed to be there,\u201d he said. \u201cThese are the things I never forget. When it comes to cricket, it\u2019s my habit to make detailed notes \u2014 if I showed you, it\u2019d fill pages.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Then there were the pundits. Former Pakistan cricketers were going on television and endorsing Shadab Khan as a future captain.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeriously \u2014 have some shame and give some real advice for the country,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve represented this country. Is this what we get?\u201d<\/p>\n
Underneath all of it was a bigger argument: that Pakistan had essentially fielded a franchise team in national colours, with franchise priorities. \u201cThis Pakistan team seemed more like a franchise cricket team to me. Whenever the coach interferes in picking the team, this is exactly what happens. Don\u2019t call it Pakistan\u2019s team. Call it Mike Hesson\u2019s team.\u201d<\/p>\n
He ended with a direct appeal to PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi. \u201cChairman, surgery is needed. Bring in good people. Keep good advisors. Your cricket won\u2019t improve in a year. Bring in people who have good service records, who understand cricket, and who can take your cricket forward at the junior level, step by step.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIf your system gets strong, cricket will get better \u2014 otherwise, it won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"4 min readUpdated: Mar 1, 2026 10:32 AM IST By the time Basit Ali settled in to record…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":796275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4101],"tags":[231193,231191,231186,231189,231188,1406,231198,231190,231196,231187,231192,231197,231195,79,16,15,231194],"class_list":["post-796274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-abrar-ahmed-omission","tag-babar-azam-batting-position-debate","tag-basit-ali","tag-basit-ali-mike-hesson-criticism","tag-basit-ali-on-pakistan-world-cup-exit","tag-cricket","tag-pakistan-cricket-reform-call","tag-pakistan-cricket-selection-controversy","tag-pakistan-vs-new-zealand-semifinal-race","tag-pakistan-world-cup-exit","tag-pcb-chairman-mohsin-naqvi-appeal","tag-sahibzada-farhan-fakhar-zaman-partnership","tag-shadab-khan-captaincy-debate","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-usman-khan-role-shuffle"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=796274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/796275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=796274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=796274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=796274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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