“4 overseas players should be made to 3 or 2” - Former Pakistan cricketer’s interesting take on IPL 2025

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has laid out an interesting opinion on the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. The former cricketer believes that the number of overseas players in the playing 11 should be reduced.

Talking on his YouTube channel 'Basit Ali', he reflected that local Indian players are emerging and performing well, which is why there is no need to have four overseas players in the playing 11.

He spoke about Priyansh Arya's knock in the IPL 2025 game between Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans to validate his point.

"Priyansh Arya is the same kid who had hit 6 sixes in 6 balls. Today also his batting was top class. There is so much talent. I feel that 4 overseas players playing in IPL should be made to 3 or 2. There is so much local talent that they are performing and overseas players are not even performing so much," he said. (1:08)

In the same game, Punjab captain Shreyas Iyer slammed an unbeaten 97 while Shashank Singh scored an uneaten 44 off just 16 balls. Sai Sudarshan from Gujarat also impressed while the likes of Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, and Shubam Dubey are other emerging players who have been solid with the bat already.

There have been three high-scoring matches out of five games already. Basit added that as the tournament continues, the pitches will break and spinners will come into play.

"Batters are dominating a lot now but as the tournament goes on and the pitches break then spinners will come into play," he reflected. (8:29)

Punjab Kings put up a massive total of 243/5 and defended the same to win by 11 runs in the end.

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Basit Ali backs Punjab Kings to qualify for IPL 2025 playoffs

Punjab Kings have built a good-looking squad for the IPL 2025 season and the same was reflected in their opening game against Gujarat Titans. They failed to qualify for the playoffs in many editions, and are yet to win the title.

However, Basit Ali has backed Punjab Kings to make it to the top four this year. Shreyas Iyer, who captained KKR to victory last year, is now leading them and began well with a win in the very first game.

"The fourth team for me is Punjab. They have a strong combination and Iyer is captaining in the same way he captained KKR. A new captain for Punjab and he took them to victory in the very first game. Other teams will have a problem now that this team has power. Maxwell and Stoinis are yet to fire," he said. (7:32)

While it can be too early to make a call after just one game, the Punjab Kings do seem to have the power and balance in their squad to have a successful IPL 2025 season.