Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was fast to share his tackle the India vs Pakistan showdown on the forthcoming ODI World Cup 2023, after the International Cricket Council introduced the schedulef or the match. Ganguly, downplaying the India vs Pakistan rivalry, stated that India’s contests with Australia are extra attention-grabbing. However, former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali is not in settlement with the previous BCCI president’s opinion, suggesting no contest is larger than the Indo-Pak sport.

“I read Sourav Ganguly’s statement and was quite shocked. Ganguly, the ex-BCCI president has played top-class cricket and was a fabulous captain who developed a lot of players,” he stated in a video on his YouTube channel.

“I don’t agree with him saying that India vs Pakistan matches are one-sided in favour of India. No doubt you have beaten us a lot in ICC World Cups before but that hasn’t been the case since 2017. We beat India at the T20 World Cup in UAE and last year in the Asia Cup, won one, lost one. Yes, India defeated Pakistan at the T20 World Cup in Australia but that was purely because of Virat Kohli. He won it single-handedly. Clearly the best-ever T20 innings.”

On the India vs Pakistan cricketing contests, Ganguly had reportedly instructed Star Sports: “There is a lot of hype in this match but the quality has not been that good for a long time because India kept on winning one-sided. Pakistan probably defeated India for the first time in the T20 World Cup in Dubai.”

“India did not play well in that tournament (2021 T20 WC) but according to me, India vs Australia tends to be a better game in the World Cup because the quality is better,” stated the previous BCCI President.

A ‘shocked’ Basit Ali even shared the ticket costs for the ODI World Cup 2023 which is to be held in India, highlighting that the India vs Pakistan match is the most costly of all.

At the tip, he felt Ganguly is barely attempting to play ‘mind-games’ together with his remarks on the India vs Pakistan rivalry.