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Former batter Basit Ali believes that if Pakistan continues with its current performance, it will eventually need to appear in the ICC qualifying rounds to fight for a place in the major tournament.
Pakistan's abysmal run in the international circuit continued even after the Champions Trophy's group-stage nightmare. With consecutive defeats against New Zealand and India, the 2017 Champions Trophy winners saw their title defence end on a bitter note in the group stage. After the Champions Trophy, Pakistan expanded its view and started bolstering its preparations for the 2026 T20 World Cup and 2027 ODI World Cup. Days after the tournament's end, Pakistan toured New Zealand for five T20Is and three ODIs. With a couple of new faces in the T20I fold, Pakistan suffered a 4-1 series defeat less than a year before the T20 World Cup kicks off in India and Sri Lanka. In the ODIs, Pakistan was outwitted in the opener and then trounced by an 84-run defeat, allowing the inexperienced Kiwis side to take an unassailable 2-0 series lead. Following the latest setback, Basit raised concern over the future of Pakistan cricket. He believes that if action is not taken, Pakistan will soon need to play the qualifying rounds as cricketing talent has vanished from the nation. "If we don't make decisions and improve our base, otherwise we will have to play qualifying rounds. We lost all 10 wickets to pacers. Our top Bradman batters were out early. Talent has finished in Pakistan. Pakistan's cricket starts with the name of Babar Azam and ends with it," Basit said on his YouTube channel. Basit traced the moment when Pakistan's downfall began. Until 2023, Pakistan, which was flying high, at least in the white-ball format, was given a reality check by the Indian team in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup. Virat Kohli and KL Rahul slammed unbeaten centuries, bashed Pakistan bowlers all over the R Premadasa Stadium to lay the foundation for India's 228-run success. "The first match of the Asia Cup against India got washed out because of rain. The way Virat and Rahul hammered our bowlers, since then neither Pakistan's batting nor bowling has stabilised. In last year's T20 World Cup, we couldn't chase 119," he added. (ANI)
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