Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was quick to share his take on the India vs Pakistan showdown at the forthcoming ODI World Cup 2023, after the International Cricket Council announced the schedulef or the tournament. Ganguly, downplaying the India vs Pakistan rivalry, said that India's contests with Australia are more interesting. However, former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali isn't in agreement with the former BCCI president's opinion, suggesting no contest is bigger than the Indo-Pak game.
"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 said 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 told 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," said the former BCCI President.
A 'shocked' Basit Ali even shared the ticket prices for the ODI World Cup 2023 which is to be held in India, highlighting that the India vs Pakistan match is the most expensive of all.
At the end, he felt Ganguly is only trying to play 'mind-games' with his remarks on the India vs Pakistan rivalry.