Ex-Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has vehemently criticized India's head coach Gautam Gambhir, following the team's disappointing performance in their recent Test series against New Zealand. Basit Ali expressed his dissatisfaction with India's aggressive batting strategy in Test cricket, which he believes played a major role in their downfall. He argued that such an approach, which worked in limited-overs formats, is not suitable for the longer format of the game and ultimately led to India's struggles against New Zealand.
Basit Ali launches full blown attack at India's head coach Gautam Gambhir
In addition to his criticism of the team's approach, Basit Ali also took aim at India's batting coach, pointing out his inability to distinguish between the demands of Test cricket and limited-overs cricket. He went a step further, claiming that Rahul Dravid, a former Indian legend known for his success in the longer format, has a more refined and strategic mindset for four-day cricket compared to Gambhir.
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Throughout the series, India's batters attempted to adopt an aggressive mindset against New Zealand, similar to the tactics that had worked in their recent successes, such as against Bangladesh. However, unlike Bangladesh, New Zealand's bowlers were well-prepared and executed their plans effectively, countering India's attacking approach and ultimately prevailing in the series.
Basit Ali slammed India's batting coach for failing to provide clarity in Test cricket. In a video posted on his YouTube channel, Ali urged the Indian Team to play the match session by session instead of attacking every ball.
"India ka batting coach hai kaun, jo yeh nahi bata pa raha ki Test cricket session to session hoti hai? Bas har over 12 run bana lo, 10 run bana lo. Yeh koi cricket hai yaar! (Who is India's batting coach, not able to advise the batsmen that you approach Tests session by session? Trying to score 10-12 runs every over is not cricket)," Basit Ali stated.
India's current coaching staff does not include a dedicated batting coach. Gambhir serves as the head coach, while Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate assist him. Morne Morkel and T Dilip are the bowling and fielding coaches, respectively.
'Is there no one to tell players like....': Basit Ali
Basit, thus, lashed out at India's batting approach, particularly on pitches that offer much assistance to spinners. He insisted on the importance of a well-settled batter and condemned the Indian batsmen for recklessly throwing their wickets away after getting set.
"Is there no one to tell players like (Yashasvi) Jaiswal and (Shubman) Gill that when you reach 30-35, then don't get out playing loose shots, try to play out the session? Because only a set batsman can be successful (on such tracks), at that time he is your Bradman," Basit Ali further said.
"But it seems they wait and think that there is still Virat Kohli to come, Rishabh Pant too, also KL Rahul and Sarfaraz (Khan); but on these tracks, the one who is set is the big player," he added.
Basit went on to suggest that Rahul Dravid possesses a superior cricketing mind compared to Gautam Gambhir, particularly in the context of Test cricket. He argued that preparing low-quality pitches favored New Zealand, as their spinners exploited the conditions effectively and dismantled the Indian batting lineup.
"Jaiswal scored 200 against England. Those were better pitches. (Rahul) Dravid has a better mind (as a coach) compared to Gautam Gambhir. Dravid used to advise for four-day pitches so that a Test match goes at least until the fourth day. Let it turn from the third, fourth day, fifth day. But you guys are asking for wickets (that turn) from the first day, where someone who is not a regular spinner will get turn even if he bowls straight," the 53-year-old concluded.
