File photo of Mohammad Haris© X (Twitter)
Former cricketer Basit Ali lambasted Pakistan Shaheens captain Mohammad Haris for his controversial remark about players not allowed to talk about India in the dressing room during the Men's T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Oman. In a video that went viral on social media ahead of India's clash against Pakistan in the Emerging Teams Asia Cup, Haris revealed that talking about India is forbidden in the dressing room. "Aapko ek baat batau. Pehli dafa hoga ke is dressing room mei Bharat par baat karne pe pabandi hai (I will tell you one thing; for the first time ever, we are not allowed to talk about India in the dressing room)," Haris said in a viral video on social media.
"We don't have to think [only] about India. We have to think about other teams as well. I have been in the [senior] Pakistan team and played in the last World Cup as well. It creates so much pressure that mentally, you are thinking about India, India. We have to face other teams as well," he added.
Haris comments were greeted with mixed reactions, and mostly, he was slammed for his remark after making the headlines.
The comments made by Haris did not go down well with the former Pakistan cricketer. Basit claimed that Haris has no sense of what and what not to speak.
"He has no sense, what to speak and what not (Usko akal nahi hai, kya bolna hai kya nahi bolna). If somebody thinks the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has given those instructions, then that is wrong," Basit said on his YouTube channel.
India A and Pakistan A will face each other in the upcoming tournament on Saturday at Al Amerat Cricket Ground Oman Cricket (Ministry Turf 1).
India A squad: Tilak Varma (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Ramandeep Singh, Anuj Rawat, Prabhsimran Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Anshul Kamboj, Hrithik Shokeen, Aaqib Khan, Vaibhav Arora, Rasikh Salam, Sai Kishore, Rahul Chahar
Pakistan A squad: Mohammad Haris (captain), Abdul Samad, Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haider Ali, Haseebullah, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Omair Bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Shahnawaz Dahani, Sufiyan Moqim, Yasir Khan and Zaman Khan.