‘I didn’t sleep for two days’: Hasan Ali recalls infamous dropped catch in T20 World Cup semifinal

The pacer revealed that he was unable to ‘sleep for a couple of days’ following his team’s defeat and subsequent ouster from the tournament. In the 19th over of the match, Ali dropped Matthew Wade off Shaheen Shah Afridi at deep midwicket and the error proved to be costly for Pakistan as the Australian stumper then hit three consecutive sixes to take his side into the final by registering a five-wicket win in Dubai.

This catch drop hasan ali australia win the match
Bad luck😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/URopr2ptRm

— Mudassar Iqbal (@Mudassa21479018) November 12, 2021

This ended Pakistan’s campaign in the tournament after the Babar Azam-led side had entered the semifinal clash with five wins on the trot.

Ali, a star of Pakistan’s 2017 Champions Trophy campaign, became a national villain following his dropped catch, with the pacer being subjected to a lot of trolling and negativity on social media.

“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 he was tense as I was not sleeping,” Hasan Ali was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.

“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,” he added.

“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,” revealed Hasan.

“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,” added Hasan.