Veteran Basit Ali believes that star Pakistan batter Babar Azam’s drop to ninth place in the ICC Test rankings for batters could be a blessing in disguise for the former Pakistan captain. He added that the Pakistani batter will now be focused on putting in improved performances. Notably, Babar was earlier placed at No. 3 in the ICC rankings for the red-ball format. However, he suffered a massive plummet following his successive failures in the recently concluded Test series opener against Bangladesh as well.

Speaking in his latest YouTube video, Basit said about Babar’s ranking: “The biggest news for me is Babar Azam dropping to No. 9 in the ICC rankings. This is very good for Babar Azam. His ranking should go down in the ODIs as well. He is not the No.1 batter in ODIs. Now Babar will be hungry. If he is still not hungry to perform, it will hurt a lot. The ICC announcing the ranking ahead of the second Test could be a blessing in disguise for Babar.”

However, Babar Azam faced a two-ball duck in the first innings of the first Test against Bangladesh. He almost bagged another one as he was dropped on zero by Litton Das in the second innings. He also failed to make the most of the missed opportunity, losing his wicket after scoring 22 runs off 50 balls as well. Eventually, Bangladesh won the contest by 10 wickets, clinching their maiden Test win over Pakistan.

Basit Ali also suggested that Pakistan should take a cue from India’s Duleep Trophy and organize more red-ball domestic tournaments as well.

Basit said: “There will be a One-Day tournament called the Champions Cup after the Test series. Pakistan have copied the systems of England, Australia and New Zealand. India is right next to us, please copy their system too. You need intelligence in copying as well. Just copy what India is doing. The Duleep Trophy is about to begin. Is it a T20 or One-Day tournament? It is a four-day tournament. They are focused on making their base stronger, which is why they are so successful.”