KARACHI: Women cricket and Sui Northern coach Basit Ali slapped former international cricketer Mahmood Hamid during a domestic cricket tournament on Thursday.
The incident occurred during a one-day cricket tournament underway at the National Stadium.
Earlier this week, Mahmood Hamid had criticised the performances of the Pakistan international women cricket team and the Under-19 team. Basit Ali is also the selector of the U-19 team.
Former Test cricketer Basit Ali, in an interview on Wednesday, had threatened his critics with strong words.
“I am giving you all the final ultimatum,” he had warned his opponents during media talk on the sidelines of women team’s training camp in Karachi.
‘Cannot be tolerated’
Speaking exclusively to Geo News following the incident, Mahmood Hamid said he was talking to someone when Basit Ali came and suddenly slapped him.
“This is outrageous and cannot be tolerated. He could not stand criticism and this is how he reacts?” Hamid said.
The former cricketer went on to say that Basit Ali should be fired by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for his misbehaviour and repeated reports of misconduct.
“He is ruining the image of Pakistan cricket. I request PCB to remove him. Look at the performances of our international women team and our junior teams. That is enough,” Hamid said.
Asked what he plans to do about the matter, Hamid said “he will not stoop to Basit Ali’s level”.
“I will protest, I will raise my voice against his actions on all available platforms,” Hamid said.
Strict action will be taken: Shahryar Khan
PCB chairman Shahryar Khan met Mahmood Hamid after the incident. Slamming Basit Ali’s misbehavior, the PCB chairman said the board will take strict action against him.
“Basit should not have done this. This is extremely regrettable,” Shahryar said.
Criticism by former players
Basit Ali was criticised by former players and critics after Pakistan women team’s 4-1 loss to New Zealand in the recent five-match ODI series.
The former cricketer, however, insisted that team showed improvement in performance and results were better than before.
“A few people with hardly one or two games to their credit, come on screen to sell own agenda and settle scores,” he responded.
Complaints were also filed against him when he served as batting consultant for the women cricket team before assuming the role of head coach.
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