Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has said that India should focus on outrightly winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and qualifying for the World Test Championship final, even as they would think the 0-3 loss to New Zealand was a huge mistake. At the moment, South Africa top the points table with 63.33 percentage points, while Australia is second with 60.71.

India led the World Test Championship standings after their crucial win against Australia in Perth during their Border-Gavaskar Trophy opener. But the defeat in Adelaide finds them at No. 3 with 57.29 percentage points, in a slightly precarious situation.

India took part in both previous World Test Championship finals, losing to New Zealand and Australia. If things stand as they are, they might not get an opportunity to fight for the title a third time.

"Kya India 4-1 se series jeet paayega? Lagta to mushkil hai. Ab to India ko focus karna chahiye Border-Gavaskar Trophy jeetne k liye. Ab baatein shuru hongi jo New Zealand k against whitewash hua thha. Ab India ko bahut yaad aayegi ki wo bahut badhi mistake ho gayi thhi (Can India win the series 4-1? It seems difficult. Now, India should focus on winning the Border-Gavaskar series. Discussions will start about the whitewash against New Zealand. India will regret that it was a huge mistake)," Basit Ali said while speaking on his YouTube channel.

"Agar India bahar hoti hai, to Australia k bahut bright chances ho jaayenge. Australia k paas advantage ye hai ki unke paas 5 matches hai. India k paas sirf 3 hai. India and Australia ka final hona chahiye (If India are out, Australia will have very bright chances. Australia have the advantage of five matches, while India only has three. The final should be between India and Australia," Basit Ali added.

India and Australia will face each other in the third Test in Brisbane from Saturday, December 14. If India win the Test, they will have 58.82 percentage points, but Australia will still be at 60 percentage points despite the loss which means India will have to win in Melbourne as well to topple Australia from second.

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