‘Shan Masood wali captaincy’: How Basit Ali and Kamran Akmal blamed Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir for ODI series defeat

Former wicketkeeper-batter Akmal agreed.

“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.”

The two were appearing on the show ‘The Game Plan’.

Basit said Gill has to be his own man.

“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)”
“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.

Akmal pointed out that Harshit Rana bowled his full quota of 10 overs, leaking 84 runs.

“On the other hand, Kuldeep and Jadeja bowled only six overs, while New Zealand’s specialist spinner bowled 10.”

He agreed that the decision-makers in Indian cricket had shown undue haste in appointing Gill as captain for the 50-over format, and should have been Rohit Sharma’s deputy and learnt on the job till the 2027 World Cup.

“This is the same mistake that Pakistan made when they made Babar Azam the captain in 2018.”

Basit also put the responsibility on Gautam Gambhir, claiming he got the batting order wrong.

“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.”

Lennox, who made his international debut in the series, gave away only 42 runs in his 10 overs while getting the wickets of Reddy and Jadeja, with India chasing a target of 338.

Akmal said the runs could have been overhauled in 45 overs if there had been a partnership of 50-60 at the start.

Basit said that even though Reddy and Rana got runs, it didn’t help India in the final analysis.

If India had to win, Rohit Sharma had to bat for at least 10 overs, and Kohli would have taken over after that. The runs from Reddy and Rana didn’t result in a win, because the base has to be made from the top.”

“New Zealand has become a headache for India. Wherever they play – whether it’s an ICC event or a bilateral Test or ODI series – they always give India a hard time.”