Morne Morkel began his India coaching stint with a fabulous performance in the Chennai Test. India defeated Bangladesh by 280 runs in the first Test in Chennai to go 1-0 up in the two-Test series. Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali compared Morkel’s bowling coach stint for India with that of Pakistan.
Basit Ali recently chastised Pakistan’s bowlers for criticizing Morne Morkel during his time with the national squad. He blamed Morkel’s failure with the Men in Green on the mentality of the Pacers.
Morne Morkel joined Pakistan in June of last year, but he quit his position as bowling coach six weeks before his contract expired because Pakistan failed to reach the quarterfinals of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023.
Former Pakistan legend’s shocking take on Morne Morkel
Basit stated that many Pakistani bowlers thought the former South African speedy was useless and that they were better than him.
“The Pakistani bowlers consider themselves to be bigger than cricket. They thought that Morkel was nothing in front of us,” Basit Ali said on his YouTube channel.
Morne Morkel was supposed to take over as India bowling coach from the Sri Lanka tour but missed the assignment due to his father’s illness.
“We have seen the difference”- Basit Ali takes a dig at Pakistan team after India routs Bangladesh
Bangladesh had defeated Pakistan by 10 wickets in the first Test in Rawalpindi to record a historic first Test win over Shan Masood and Co. Then in the second Test, also in Rawalpindi, Bangladesh fought back brilliantly from being reduced to 26/6 in 1st innings and won the Test by 8 wickets.
This win made Bangladesh only the second team after England to whitewash Pakistan in Pakistan.
However, the same Bangladesh side was defeated soundly by India in Chennai. Despite being reduced to 144/6 by Bangladesh pacers, India proceeded to post 376 runs with Ravi Ashwin (113) and Ravindra Jadeja (86) adding 86 runs for the 7th wicket.
Bangladesh was then routed for 149 runs, conceding 227 runs lead. India then declared at 287/4 in the second innings with Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill scoring tons. In reply to a 515-run target, Bangladesh mustered 234 runs, losing by 280 runs.
Basit further noted that India has controlled the present Chennai Test against Bangladesh. He added that Pakistan, on the other side, experienced a 2-0 whitewash over the same opposition.
“We got to know the difference. This is the same Bangladesh played against Pakistan, where it seemed as if Pakistan were completely on the back foot. This is the same Bangladesh that whitewashed Pakistan. The difference is of mindset, thinking and class,” Basit added.
The second Test will be played in Kanpur from September 27 onwards.
Also Read: Shubman Gill Reveals On-field Conversation With Rishabh Pant During 167-run Stand vs Bangladesh
