Ex-Pakistan batsman Basit Ali spoke to PakPassion.net about the resumption of cricketing ties between India and Pakistan, and the Pakistani limited overs team.

By Nasser Khan (17 July 2012)

The resumption of cricketing ties between Pakistan and India has been announced by the respective cricket boards, with the teams due to contest three ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals in December and January. The relationship was severed in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks in late 2008 and the sides last met in a bilateral series five years ago.

Ex-Pakistan batsman Basit Ali spoke to PakPassion.net about the news, and the preparation of the Pakistani limited overs team for the series.

Zaka Ashraf was appointed Chairman of the PCB in October and has been instrumental in ensuring the restoration of Pakistan-India contests indicated Ali “It's a happy occasion that Pakistan and India will play matches and credit goes to Zaka Ashraf for the resumption of ties between Pakistan and India. He has worked extremely hard to repair the damage done by his predecessor Ijaz Butt. Zaka Ashraf's business background has obviously played a part in the professional manner in which he has tackled the many issues facing Pakistani cricket, which is exactly what was required.”

Ali believed the matches between Pakistan and India can have a broader impact on the return of international cricket to Pakistan “If the series goes ahead, it will go some way to rebuilding relations. If we are able to form a strong relationship with India, a high profile series will bring publicity. This can only have a positive impact on the aim of bringing international cricket back to Pakistan, particularly given India dominates world cricket.”

Despite winning the Asia Cup, the Pakistani ODI team has a poor record in 2012, having won only five of the fourteen matches played to date. India also hold an edge in recent contests between the two sides, with nine wins in the last fifteen matches.

“The Pakistan limited overs teams needs some changes.” said Ali “Kamran Akmal needs to return and Hafeez will have to drop down the order in T20s if you also select Imran Nazir, Shahzaib Hassan, Ahmad Shehzad or Nasir Jamshed. Hafeez is absolutely the right captain to lead Pakistan in the T20 World Cup and has the ability to cope with batting in the middle order. The team also needs him, given Misbah and Younis Khan no longer play the shorter format. Umar Akmal and Asad Shafiq will play and two more batsmen are needed in the middle order so Hafeez will have to find a slot somewhere.”

The Pakistani fast bowling resources have been an area of concern on the recent tour of Sri Lanka, and Ali feels Sami could still have a role to play. “Junaid Khan played well upon his return from injury, but Sami was not correctly utilised. Sami is a strike bowler and if I was coach he would have performed well on this tour. There are similarities with Imran Nazir - both players have been selected but not achieved the results. You have to extract performances from players. We hear all about coaching, but what is required is tuning and planning. It was a travesty that a paceman like Sami, whose primarly role is that of a strike bowler, was not given the new ball. Batsmen fear pace, not medium pacers.”

He continued “With Umar Gul, a case could have been made for a new seamer replacing him in the series against Australia after his poor performance in the Sri Lanka. Asad Shafiq should definitely play T20 and ODI matches. He should bat number four in both format and in next five years he will develop into an outstanding batsman.”

Pakistan's next assignment is the limited overs series against Australia in the UAE. The ODI series starts in Sharjah on August 28, and the first T20 to be played in Dubai on September 5.