Ex-Pakistan cricketer praises Virat Kohli, slams Sourav Ganguly - 'Dada ji trying to play mind games'

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Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has slammed former India captain and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly for his remark over the upcoming India versus Pakistan clash at the World Cup 2023.

In a recent interview, Ganguly had reckoned that the India versus Australia match carried more weight because of the quality it brought with it, adding that Men in Blue have dominated and won one-sided matches against Pakistan at the ICC marquee event.

"There is a lot of hype in this match but the quality has not been that good for a long time because India kept on winning one-sided. Pakistan probably defeated India for the first time in the T20 World Cup in Dubai.

"India did not play well in that tournament (2021 T20 WC) but according to me, India vs Australia tends to be a better game in the World Cup because the quality is better," Ganguly had told Star Sports.

Ali slams Ganguly, praises Kohli

Basit Ali has expressed shock at Ganguly's statement before adding that the matches between India and Pakistan have been closely fought since the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. Notably, Pakistan defeated India in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.

The 52-year-old, who played 50 ODI matches for Pakistan, added that if not from the "best-ever T20 innings" by Virat Kohli, Pakistan would have won their match against India at the T20 World Cup 2022 as well.

"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," he said on his YouTube channel.

"I don't agree with him saying that India vs Pakistan matches are one-sided in favour of India. 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."

'Are roads in your country empty when India play Australia?'

Ali also slammed Ganguly for calling India versus Australia game a bigger affair than the match between the arch-rivals. He pointed out the difference of ticket prices between the two games and also noted that roads in India are never empty when they play against Australia.

"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."

India begin their World Cup 2023 campaign against Australia on October 8. The Rohit Sharma-led team will face Pakistan on October 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.