Former Pakistan National Cricket Team player Basit Ali revealed about his experiences from a visit to India when he traveled with the Women’s team in 2016. He spoke about how they weren’t even kept in the hotel and weren’t given the proper breakfast by the Indian board.
India and Pakistan have been in the news lately. This is because the Men in Blue denied travelling to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The BCCI cited security reasons for not travelling and has raised the demand to play the tournament in a hybrid model.
This hasn’t gone well with many in Pakistan as many experts and fans have lashed out at the BCCI for their decision.
With the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 now all set to be played in a Hybrid model, the Indian Board has faced a lot of criticism, with many former cricketers from Pakistan expressing their disappointment of not seeing players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and others playing in Pakistan.
One among those who have expressed their disappointment over the same is Basit Ali. The former Pakistan National Cricket Team player recalled how he was treated when he accompanied the Pakistan Women’s National Cricket Team to India in 2016.
We were told not to complain by the Pakistan Cricket Board – Basit Ali
Basit Ali said that they had to wait 6 hours on the bus, and no one knew which bus the girls of the team were travelling in. He also talked about the poor experience of rooms and revealed that they were told by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to not complain. Speaking to a news channel, he explained:
“I went to India with the women’s team in 2016. I’ll tell you what happened to us there. We were hidden inside buses for 6 hours at Delhi airport. We were made to travel at night. No one knew in which bus our daughters were sitting.
“There was no hotel where we stayed. There were rooms outside the stadium where we stayed. There were no cupboards. When we had breakfast in the morning, we were told not to complain by the Pakistan Cricket Board. We knew how we were staying.”
We heard firing sounds, our daughters were scared – Basit Ali
Basit Ali further revealed that David Richardson also joined them and he too was left baffled by the way they were staying in India. He also spoke about how they heard gunshots in their camp. He added:
“One day, Dave Richardson came, he stayed with us. He used to run with us in the evening. When he saw us having breakfast, he ran away. He said, how are you guys staying here? I said ask the BCCI. And at night we heard firing sounds. There was a lot of security in the academy. Even after that we heard sounds of firing. Our daughters were scared. They used to say, did you hear the firing? I used to say, I was awake. Even after that, we never complained.”
We couldn’t go out – Basit Ali
Basit Ali further, while talking about the same, claimed that they couldn’t go out and their only source of entertainment was to play Ludo and carrom. He explained:
“We were told by the Pakistan Cricket Board not to complain. Our chairperson came there. We told her that this was the case. She told us to play matches. Do you know what was our entertainment there? To play Ludo or carrom board. Because we couldn’t go out. We never said it. But the sound of firing at night was very dangerous.” He concluded.
🚨 If you have time, listen patiently, and you will understand what Pakistani ex-cricketer Basit Ali and others like him really think about India. Sawera Pasha and Imran also have their own YouTube channels, where they act completely differently. While they speak negatively about… pic.twitter.com/kLTacKwPBa
— The StatPadder (@The_statpadder) December 5, 2024
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