Former Pakistan captain Basit Ali did not mince words after Pakistan’s crushing 61-run defeat to India in the T20 World Cup 2026, saying he was “relieved” that the two nations do not currently play bilateral series. In a sharp post-match assessment on his YouTube channel, Basit claimed that if regular series were held, even India’s B or C teams would be strong enough to beat Pakistan — a remark that underlines the widening gap between the rivals.

“It’s a relief that we don’t have a series against India,” he said. “We only face them in tournaments. Otherwise, their B or C team would beat us. Our team is nowhere near the level of the top five teams.”

The contest at the R Premadasa Stadium exposed that gap. India, put in to bat on a tacky surface, lost Abhishek Sharma early to Salman Ali Agha. But Ishan Kishan flipped the momentum with a fearless yet calculated innings. He added 87 runs with Tilak Varma, raced to a 27-ball fifty and hammered 77 off 40 deliveries. Late cameos from Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube pushed India to 175/7.

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Pakistan’s chase never took off. Hardik Pandya struck in the opening over, while Jasprit Bumrah dismantled the top order to leave them 13/3. Axar Patel soon removed Babar Azam for 5 (7). Pakistan were eventually bowled out for 114. Basit was particularly critical of Babar’s approach.

“Babar had a great chance to play a long innings today,” he said. “He could have batted at a run a ball after three wickets went down early and taken the game deep. But he got out playing across the line to a left-arm spinner.”

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He didn’t stop there. “Babar has scored the most runs. But how many games has he won for the team?” Turning to the middle order, Basit added: “Waise to chhoti teamon ke aage 15 ball pe 30 run bana lete ho. Aaj karo na.”

For Pakistan, the defeat wasn’t just about one bad day — it highlighted deeper structural concerns.