"This is not a good sign" - Former Pakistan cricketer on Team India's dressing room leaks controversy post BGT 2024-25

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has expressed disappointment over India's dressing room leak controversy at the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. The 54-year-old reckons it’s not a good sign for the Men in Blue ahead of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.

Ali also talked about the significance of India's results in the upcoming three-match ODI series against England ahead of the key ICC event. He further defended Sarfaraz Khan, while suggesting there shouldn’t be any blame game within the team and head coach Gautam Gambhir needed to play a pivotal role to stop it from happening in the future.

The remarks came after reports from News 24 (via NDTV) claimed that Sarfaraz leaked dressing room talks to media during 2024-25 BGT. Addressing the issue, Basit Ali said on his YouTube channel:

“There are talks that Sarfaraz leaked the dressing room talks and the board meeting conversations were leaked. This is not a good sign [for India]; it affects the team unity. The faster it ends, the better. You have a different team in the Champions Trophy. If you win against England, it will be better for the team but if you lose against them the confidence level will go down.”

“There shouldn’t be any blame game and Gautam Gambhir needs to play a role here. There was no Sarfaraz in the [BCCI review] meeting,” he added.

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“All these four pillars should be on the same page” – Basit Ali wants India coaches, selectors, chairman, and captain on the same page ahead of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy

Basit Ali also urged India captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir, chief selector Ajit Agarkar, and BCCI chairman Roger Binny to be on the same page ahead of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. He said in the same video:

“Like PCB, there are four pillars – chairman, selectors, captain and players. They need to be together to form a good team. They should have same mindset. Similarly for BCCI, all these four pillars should be on the same page.”

Ali added the leaks in media are targeted at specific individuals to disturb the team environment. He concluded:

“Such news are spread to affect the team environment and media plays a key role. Whether it’s targeted towards Virat, Rohit or another group at Gambhir.”

Basit Ali has played 19 Tests and 50 ODIs for Pakistan from 1993 to 1996.