'I wasn't able to sleep for two days' - Hasan Ali breaks silence on infamous dropped catch during T20 WC 2021

Pakistan were having a dream run in T20 World Cup 2021 and marched their way to the semi-final while being unbeaten in the group stages. However, a disastrous loss against Australia in the semis ended their run in the marquee event and it was Hasan Ali who came under huge scrutiny for his dropped catch in Shaheen Afridi’s over. Matthew Wade and Marcus Stoinis played the innings of their life that day to take Australia over the line while chasing 175 runs.

However, Wade’s story could have ended in the penultimate over had it not been Ali’s dropped catch. It was only after that Afridi was taken to cleaners by batters in front as he leaked 22 runs in that over. Ali opened on the same incident for the first time and added how he got through that tough phase.

“It was the tough moment of my career and it was quite difficult for me to forget. I haven’t revealed this to anyone until now but I didn’t sleep for two days, my wife was with me and she was tense as I was not sleeping. I was quiet and sitting at the side as the dropped catch was appearing in my mind continuously but while traveling to Bangladesh, I told myself that I should move on,” said Hasan Ali as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.

Shoaib Bhai came to me and told me that you are a tiger: Hasan Ali

The right-arm pacer also added how he and Shaheen were emotional after the game but support from Shoaib Malik and fans on social media pushed them through the rough patch. Ali said that now he has moved on from that phase through but it was indeed a tough time to pass.

“All my teammates are aware of how I approach the games and that I don’t take the matches lightly. I prepare well and I always try to perform for Pakistan. After the match, I was crying and so was Shaheen, it was an extremely sad moment. Shoaib Bhai came to me and told me that you are a tiger and that I shouldn’t fall. In addition to that, I also received a lot of support on social media which helped me ease through the pain,” Hasan added.