Hasan Ali has made a remarkable comeback to the national side since returning from a back injury that sidelined the fast bowler for a good two years.
Hasan returned to the national side in the two-Test match series against South Africa in January-February played in Karachi and Rawalpindi. Pakistan won the series 2-0 and that lifted them to the fifth spot in the ICC Test rankings. Hasan took 12 wickets in the series, which included 10 wickets in the Rawalpindi Test, where he took a fifer in each innings.
Hasan has played 11 international matches this year where he has taken 40 wickets with four five-wicket hauls in an innings and one ten-wicket haul in a match. He is also the top wicket-taker in this year with India's Ravichandran Ashwin in the second spot with 38 wickets. Hasan's fast bowling partner Shaheen Shah Afridi is in the fifth position with 30 wickets from 15 matches.
"It has never been easy for a fast bowler to come back after a back injury but I want to thank my wife, family, Shoaib Malik, and Shahid Afridi who kept me motivated and focused on cricket. Nothing is impossible in life, if we believe in ourselves and work hard, we can achieve desired results and I am an example of it," the official website of PCB quoted Ali as saying.
"The performances in the domestic season helped me regain confidence which later helped me to perform in international cricket again. I always prefer fearless cricket but featuring in first-class cricket helped me a lot. Performing well in those nine matches of Quaid-e-Azam trophy 2020-21 has given sheer confidence to me to gear up for a successful international comeback," he added.
Pakistan on the tour to England will feature in three ODI matches starting from July 8 which are part of ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League. They will also feature in the three-match T20I series against the top-ranked side.
"The white-ball series against England is very important for us, as England are the World Champions in ODIs and are also the top-ranked side in T20Is. England has been always lucky to me, as I have my great memories from England tour in the past, winning ICC Champions Trophy in 2017 in England is on top of it," he said.
Hasan has also made some strides in his batting after recovering from an injury. In 11 international matches this year, Hasan has scored 139 runs at 23.16, where he has remained unbeaten on five occasions and has also struck nine fours and ten sixes. His unbeaten 20 off seven balls (one four, two sixes) against South Africa in the T20I series decider helped Pakistan overcome South Africa by four wickets at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium.
"I always wanted to become an all-rounder, and I am happy besides my bowling, I am contributing in a team with my batting as well. While I was away from cricket for two years due to injury, I worked on my batting especially hard-hitting ability at NHPC," he signed off.
( With inputs from ANI )
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