Basit Ali: “Wasim Akram was the captain at that time, but the man who was responsible for Miandad’s ousting is the one who used to give the orders and that was Imran Khan”

Image courtesy of: Pakistan Cricket Board

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has claimed that legendary captain Imran Khan concocted a plan to remove iconic batsman Javed Miandad from the national team in 1993.

Basit noted that since he was often compared to Miandad, it served as additional fuel for the 62-year-old to be ousted from the squad.

“There was a conspiracy to remove Javed Miandad from the team around 1993. That’s why I was being compared with him,” Basit told The Times of India as quoted by Cricket Pakistan. “Honestly, I was not even one percent of what Miandad was. I used to bat at number four and when Miandad was removed, they shifted me to number six. At number four, I used to average 55 and when they shifted me to six, my performance went down. They knew that at that position, I would hardly ever get to bat.

“Wasim Akram was the captain at that time, but the man who was responsible for Miandad’s ousting is the one who used to give the orders and that was Imran Khan.”

Meanwhile, Basit also revealed that he withdrew from the 1996 World Cup in order to make space for Miandad.

“Miandad wasn’t included in the 1996 World Cup squad. His name wasn’t there initially,” he said. “I was there in the 15-member squad. But he came with a request to the players and said he wanted to play the World Cup as he wanted to make the most World Cup appearances record. So, I pulled out.

“I was in my prime at that time, but still I sacrificed my place because I respected Miandad.”

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