"Basit Ali Criticizes Gary Kirsten's Coaching Demands for Pakistan"

Basit Ali has criticized Gary Kirsten for his controversial demands during his brief tenure as Pakistan’s white-ball head coach. After signing a two-year contract with the PCB, Kirsten resigned after just six months.

Ali revealed that Kirsten insisted he wouldn't coach Pakistan if Babar Azam was not part of the squad. Additionally, Kirsten proposed that young batter Mohammad Harris should be appointed as the new captain of the ODIs and T20Is once Babar stepped down.

"Gary Kirsten is pretending to be innocent. How can you make such demands for one player? You wanted Mohammad Harris as captain. Why should we adhere to your requests? He is just a kid; let him play without undue pressure. Did you even attend the Emerging Teams Asia Cup to watch him?" Ali stated.

Moreover, Ali noted that Kirsten opposed Mohammad Rizwan's captaincy in the shorter formats and was against including Shaheen Afridi in the team. "Is this Pakistan’s team or Gary Kirsten’s? He received a wake-up call from Aaqib Javed," Ali added.

During Kirsten's time in charge, Pakistan suffered a T20I series defeat to England and was eliminated in the group stage of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.