Basit Ali (

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

: باسط علی, born 13 December 1970) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played in 19

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

and 50

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s from 1993 to 1996. A right-hander, he has the relatively uncommon statistic of having a higher ODI than Test batting average. Strong through the covers and point, Ali was also exceptionally good at playing hook and pull shots against the fast bowlers.

Cricket career

Domestic career

Ali was a successful junior cricketer, at one time holding the record for most hundreds in a Karachi zonal league season.

International career

He debuted for Pakistan aged 22 in March 1993, playing both ODI and Test cricket in a tour of the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. For similarities and batting styles and temperament, he was initially seen as the one who'd take the mantle of

Javed Miandad Mohammad Javed Miandad PP SI (; born 12 June 1957), popularly known as Javed Miandad (; ), is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer known for his unconventional style of captaincy and batting. ESPNcricinfo described him ...

. He went on to play in 19 Tests but made just the one Test century, against New Zealand in 1993–94. An aggressive risk-taker, he was a regular in the Pakistani ODI side for a while in the mid-1990s. On 5 November 1993 he scored the then second-fastest

century in history, with a 67 ball effort against the West Indies at Sharjah. He took 5 more balls as compared to the record of

Mohammad Azharuddin Mohammad Azharuddin (born 8 February 1963) is an Indian politician and a former cricketer who also served as the Indian national cricket team's captain. He was a right-handed middle order batter and an occasional medium fast bowler. He playe ...

who took 62 balls. Basit Ali finished on 127 not out. Waqar Younis was acting captain in that match.

Coaching career

He has served as the head coach of the Pakistan A team. He also served as the head coach of the Pakistan women team and the Under-19 team, being the chief selector of the Under-19 squad as well, but had to resign from these positions in December 2016, after he slapped former international cricketer

Mahmood Hamid Mahmood Hamid (born January 19, 1969, Karachi, Sindh) is a Pakistani former cricketer who played one One Day International (ODI) in 1995. He scored one run before being run out. In February 2020, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the Over-50s ...

during a domestic tournament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Basit 1970 births Living people Cricketers from Karachi Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan One Day International cricketers Karachi cricketers United Bank Limited cricketers Pakistani cricketers Karachi Blues cricketers Pakistan Automobiles Corporation cricketers Karachi Whites cricketers Muhajir people Pakistani cricket coaches