Ex-Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali bizarrely suggests Usman Khawaja played ‘like a batsman from Bangladesh’

Basit Ali, slamming Australia's approach with the bat in the first innings of the Ahmedabad Test, went on to add: "The way Australia played it felt like a team from 1970-80. It felt like Australia are leading 2-1 in the series."

Australian batter Usman Khawaja celebrates after scoring a century against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. (PTI Photo)

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Former Pakistani cricketer Basit Ali has courted controversy by bizarrely suggesting that Australian opener Usman Khawaja, who scored 180 runs to propel the visitors to a total of 480 in the first innings, had a ‘timid approach’ and played ‘like a batsman from Bangladesh’.

“Usman Khawaja played like a batsman from Bangladesh. His approach was very timid, and I feel it was a selfish innings. You score 180 runs after playing 422 deliveries in this pitch. Only Green looked like a batter from Australia,” Ali remarked in a video posted on YouTube.

Khawaja’s score of 180 is the third highest score by an Australian batter in India. He spent 611 minutes in the middle, which makes it the longest Test innings in India by an Australian. He eclipsed the previous record – 520 minutes, made by Graham Yallop, when he scored 167 at Eden Gardens in 1979 – by a country mile too.

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The Indian team won the first two Tests in three days each to take a 2-0 advantage in the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In the first Test at Nagpur, India won by an innings and 132 runs. In New Delhi, India won by six wickets.

But the Australians came roaring back in Indore, beating the hosts by nine wickets.

Ali, slamming Australia’s approach with the bat in the first innings of the Ahmedabad Test, went on to add: “The way Australia played it felt like a team from 1970-80. They won the toss and scored 255 on Day 1 and 225 on Day 2. It felt like Australia are leading 2-1 in the series but it is India, who are leading 2-1. Just because they have reached the finals of World Test Championship, so they have maintained a defensive approach,” he said.

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