Pakistan cricket is not that bad that coaches like Grant Flower give suggestions to Younis Khan: Basit Ali

Former Pakistan batting coach Grant Flower recently issued a controversial statement against ex-skipper Younis Khan, raising a lot of eyebrows over social media. Flower claimed Younis had once put a knife to his throat when the Zimbabwean had tried offering him some batting advice. Flower served as Pakistan’s batting coach from 2014 to 2019.

Flower, who is currently serving as Sri Lanka’s batting coach, recalled when he had tried giving Younis a bit of batting advice. However, the response which he got was quite unexpected as Younis didn’t take the advice kindly and held a knife to Flower’s throat.

“I remember one incident in Brisbane, during the Test, at breakfast, I tried to give him a bit of batting advice … But he didn’t take kindly to my advice and brought a knife to my throat, with Mickey Arthur sitting alongside, who had to intervene,” Flower remembered on the ‘Following On Cricket Podcast’.

Former Pakistan batsman Basit Ali responded to Flower’s accusation and lambasted him for making false allegations. Ali, on his YouTube channel, lauded Younis for his contribution to Pakistan cricket and said that Flower should think twice before dishing out such a statement.

Statements like this are not good for our nation’s cricket: Basit Ali

“There is a statement that has come out from Grant Flower about Younis Khan. I feel he has given this statement very quickly. I feel he should think which person, which player he is talking about, who has scored 10000 runs for Pakistan,” said Basit Ali.

“Pakistan cricket is not that bad that coaches like Grant Flower give suggestions to Younis Khan. It was his [Younis] greatness that he used to listen to him [Flower] and even used to credit him in press conferences,” he added.

Ali also appealed to the PCB to take action against Flower for giving out such statements. According to the former Pakistan cricketer, statements like these are responsible for tarnishing image of the Pakistan board and hence, the PCB should take action against it.

“Statements like this are not good for our nation’s cricket and PCB should take action. Because Younis Khan is one of our greatest cricketers and I felt very sad,” said Ali, who donned the Pakistan jersey in 19 Tests and 50 ODIs from 1993 to 1996.