'Whatever is forbidden in our religion, all those things happen here' - Basit Ali unleashes scathing attack on Pakistan after Multan loss

Criticism is piling up on the Pakistan cricket team after their latest loss to England in the first Test in Multan. The team entered the series after a heartbreaking 0-2 loss against the touring Bangladesh team. The recent loss has just added fuel to the fire and former Pakistan cricketer, Basit Ali has alleged off-field reasons for Pakistan cricket’s downfall. 

Pakistan managed to score 556 runs batting first but eventually lost by an innings and 47 runs. This also meant that they became the first team in history to lose a Test despite scoring 500-plus runs in the first innings. Basit argued that the lack of transparency and back-biting has hurt the team’s results on the field.

Also Read: No matter what the pitch is like, we must find a way out: Shan Masood

"What is the reason behind the downfall of Pakistan's cricket? Whatever is forbidden in our religion, all those things happen here. Back-biting happens openly here. The ones back-biting are being appointed as coaches in domestic cricket and managers. Nobody is picked on merit and in fact, a good person doesn't even want to be part of the PCB now,” said Basit on his YouTube channel.

I won't say that my team is mentally weak: Shan Masood 

Pakistan will meet England in the second Test at the same venue, with the match scheduled to commence on October 15. It is worth noting that the first Test loss was Pakistan’s 10th consecutive loss at home and the team has failed to replicate their older selves. There are reports suggesting that Shan Masood could be removed from his position of captain. Meanwhile, the 34-year-old defended the questions about the team’s mental ability.

Also Read: Shan Masood likely to be stripped off Pakistan's Test captaincy

"I won't say that my team is mentally weak. The third innings in isolation can seem like a collapse where everything went wrong. But if we could have kept England to near our score, then the 220 runs put on today could have felt a difficult onw in the final innings," Masood said after the match.