NEW DELHI: Former Pakistan cricketers Basit Ali and Kamran Akmal took a veiled dig at India captain Shubman Gill following the Men in Blue's first-ever home ODI series loss to New Zealand, drawing humorous parallels with Pakistan Test skipper Shan Masood.
Basit said Gill needs to learn to make his own decisions and described his captaincy similar to Masood: "Yeh to Shan Masood wali captaincy ki hai Gill ne."
"You shouldn't go by messages being conveyed from outside. I would tell him: "school me jao aur kaptani seekh kar aao (go to school and learn captaincy)", Basit said on the show 'The Game Plan'
Shubman Gill points fingers at batting, fielding after India's shock series defeat
"If Kuldeep had got a wicket after getting hit for a couple of sixes, it would have been a victory for him. But he was taken off after just three overs and brought back when the partnership (between Mitchell and Phillips) had crossed 150 runs. The captain doesn't seem to have confidence in Kuldeep and Jadeja," Basit said, even adding that it was the "last match" for the latter.
Former wicketkeeper-batter Kamran Akmal also echoed Basit Ali's remarks, questioning Shubman Gill's captaincy credentials.
"A captain has to control the game. When you have got early wickets, you need to bring your specialist bowlers in the attack. If they had got another wicket at that stage, New Zealand wouldn't have scored more than 225-250 runs," he said. "Gill's mind doesn't seem to be working in captaincy."
"On the other hand, Kuldeep and Jadeja bowled only six overs, while New Zealand's specialist spinner bowled 10."
He argued that Indian cricket's decision-makers had acted too hastily in naming Gill as the captain for the 50-over format, suggesting instead that he should have served as Rohit Sharma's deputy and gained experience on the job leading up to the 2027 World Cup.
"This is the same mistake that Pakistan made when they made Babar Azam the captain in 2018."
Basit also shifted some of the responsibility onto head coach Gautam Gambhir, alleging that the former India batter mismanaged the team's batting order.
"Gambhir is fond of the left-right combination in T20 cricket, so why did he keep sending right-handers to bat alongside Kohli when a left-arm spinner (Jayden Lennox) was bowling?" he asked. "Jadeja should have been sent ahead of Reddy. You have one left-hander (in the top and middle order). Utilise him properly."
