‘Dada ji trying to play mind games’: Ex-Pak cricketer slams Sourav Ganguly for ‘one-sided’ remark on IND-PAK games

The highly anticipated India vs Pakistan World Cup game, scheduled for October 15, 2023, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, has captured the attention of the entire world. The excitement surrounding this match has reached its peak, with hotel rooms in Ahmedabad nearly sold out and flight tickets skyrocketing. It is evident that no other game has garnered such immense interest and drawn such a massive audience as the India-Pakistan clash.

It is highly probable that the largest stadium in the world will be completely packed when these two arch-rivals face off, setting a record for the number of spectators in attendance. The pressure has always been intense whenever these two sides meet, given the nature of their games. However, former BCCI President Sourav Ganguly recently expressed his opinion that the thrill factor has diminished, as India has been dominating in recent “one-sided” encounters.

Ganguly’s statement did not sit well with Pakistani cricket fans, who promptly pointed out the T20 World Cup 2021 game where Pakistan triumphed over India with a resounding 10-wicket victory. Additionally, the most recent T20 World Cup 2022 encounter saw India emerge victorious in a nail-biting finish on the very last delivery of the game.

Former Pakistani cricketer Basit Ali was taken aback by Ganguly’s assertions. While Basit expressed nothing but respect for Ganguly and his contributions to Indian cricket as both a player and 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 has maintained dominance over Pakistan for nearly a decade, but the team witnessed a significant shift under the leadership of Babar Azam. In 2022, India emerged victorious over Pakistan on two occasions, while the Men in Green also managed to secure a win in the Asia Cup. Additionally, Basit expressed his disagreement with Ganguly’s remarks regarding the India-Australia match, where Ganguly claimed that India’s opening encounter is a far superior game to watch out 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.

READ| Real truth behind MS Dhoni’s first meeting with wife Sakshi Dhoni