'Dada ji is just trying to play mind games' - Basit Ali showcases dissent over Sourav Ganguly's 'one-sided' remark on IND-PAK games

The entire world is looking forward to India vs Pakistan World Cup game that will be played on October 15, 2023, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The excitement has reached its peak, as hotel rooms in Ahmedabad have almost been sold out, and flight tickets have also skyrocketed. No other game has attracted so many audiences as the India-Pakistan game.

It is highly likely that the largest stadium in the world too will be completely full when the two arch-rivals lock horns and a record number of spectators will be witnessed. Given the nature of their games, the pressure has always been high whenever the two sides clash, but former BCCI President Sourav Ganguly very recently opined that the thrill factor is no longer seen since India have been winning ‘one-sided’ affairs of late.

The Pakistan cricket fans did not take Ganguly’s statement well, as some also quoted the T20 World Cup 2021 game, where Pakistan thrashed India to win the game by a whopping 10-wicket margin. Their most recent game of the T20 World Cup 2022 also saw India winning a thriller on the very last delivery of the game.

Former Pakistani cricketer Basit Ali was 'shocked' by Ganguly's assertions. Although Basit offered nothing but respect for Ganguly and his contributions to Indian cricket as a player and as a leader of the Indian board, he also provided some alarming information to serve as a wake-up call for the former India captain.

“I read Sourav Ganguly's statement and was quite shocked. Ganguly, the ex-BCCI president has played top-class cricket and was a fabulous captain who developed a lot of players. I don't agree with him saying that India vs Pakistan matches are one-sided in favour of India,” Ali said on his YouTube channel.

“No doubt you have beaten us a lot in ICC World Cups before but that hasn't been the case since 2017. We beat India at the T20 World Cup in UAE and last year in the Asia Cup, won one, lost one. Yes, India defeated Pakistan at the T20 World Cup in Australia but that was purely because of Virat Kohli. He won it single-handedly. Clearly the best-ever T20 innings,” he added.

India-Australia costs are nowhere close to India-Pakistan's: Ali

India have been dominant over Pakistan for almost a decade, but the team saw a transition under Babar Azam’s leadership. In 2022, India defeated Pakistan twice, but the Men in Green too managed to grab a victory in the Asia Cup. Basit also opposed Ganguly’s comments on the India-Australia game, where he said that India’s opening encounter is a far better game to lookout for.

“He also said that India vs Australia is a bigger crowd puller than India vs Pakistan. To that, I would just want to say that 'Brother, when India plays Australia, are roads in your country empty? No. They are empty whenever there's an India-Pakistan match - both in India and in Pakistan. Everyone is glued to their TV screen and are praying. Look at the ticket prices for the World Cup; India-Australia costs are nowhere close to India-Pakistan's. So I feel that Ganguly - DADA ji - is just trying to play mind games,” Basit concluded.