Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has apologised to Test captain Shan Masood, admitting that his recent remarks about the red-ball skipper were inappropriate.

Speaking during a TV programme, Ali said that he reviewed a clip of his comments and regretted his choice of words. “I regret the words I used at the time and apologise to Shan Masood and his fans,” he said.

The apology came after the ex-cricketer had questioned the logic behind Masood’s captaincy, saying that if the captain was going to bat at number three against Bangladesh in the Test series, there was little point in giving him the most important leadership role. 

He had also raised questions about team selection, saying he could not understand how Kamran Ghulam had been dropped from Test cricket despite decent performances, and questioned the exclusion of Abrar Ahmed and Asif Afridi, saying both deserved their places based on domestic form.

Kamran Akmal, who was also part of the discussion, had said that with Mohammad Rizwan in the side, Ghazi Ghori was unlikely to feature in the playing XI and had likely travelled as a backup wicketkeeper. 

He had added that Ghori’s Patrons Trophy performance ranked second, behind Abdullah Fazal who is already in the squad and has been playing for two years.

Akmal had also noted that Saad Baig scored 1,000 runs in the season, calling it a remarkable achievement and highlighting that he was only the second wicketkeeper after himself to reach that landmark.

Masood, on the other hand, has been in great form in PSL 11, scoring 233 runs in seven matches at an average of 40 and a strike rate of over 180.