T20 World Cup | Don't change your expectations from me, says Hasan Ali after lows of Pakistan vs Australia semi-final
| Pakistan pacer Hasan Ali
|| Twitter Image
Pakistan pacer Hasan Ali, who dropped the crucial catch of Australia batsman Matthew Wade in Pakistan's semi-final against Australia on Wednesday, asked fans to not lower their expectation from him on Saturday. Wade hit 3 consecutive sixes after the dropped catch to finish the match in 19th over.
Australia were in need of 22 runs from the last two overs when Shaheen Afridi came to bowl the penultimate over. After one runs from the first two balls, Afridi bowled a wide and later the reloaded ball was smashed by Wade towards midwicket where Ali overran the ball, and let it slip through his fingers.
Matthew Wade added salt to Pakistan and Hasan Ali's wound by smashing three back-to-back sixes and sealing the match for Australia with 5 wickets and an over to spare. The defeat ended Pakistan's unbeaten run in the T20 World Cup 2021 and crushed their dream of lifting the coveted trophy for the first time after 2007.
Hasan Ali was at the recieving end of vicious social media trolls and abuses after the game. A few did come to support him but they were outnumbered. Their were reports that the family memebers of the 27-year-old were also being targeted online.
The 27-year-old has finally reacted after Pakistan's semi-final loss and urged fans to not change their expectations from him.
"I know you all are upset because my performance didn't meet your expectations but not more disappointed than me. Don't change your expectations from me. I want to serve Pakistan cricket at the highest level possible, so back to hard work. This patch will make me stronger. Thank you for all the messages, tweets, posts, calls and duas (prayers) – needed them," Ali tweeted on Saturday.
میرا سینہ تیری حُرمت کا ہے سنگین حصار،
— Hassan Ali 🇵🇰 (@RealHa55an) November 13, 2021
میرے محبوب وطن تُجھ پہ اگر جاں ہو نثار
میں یہ سمجھوں گا ٹھکانے لگا سرمایہِ تن،
اے میرے پیارے وطن 💚🇵🇰 pic.twitter.com/4xiTS0hAvx
Pakistan captain Babar Azam has also directed his teammates to not raise fingers at each other and keep the unity of the team alive.
“Everybody is feeling the pain. Where we made mistakes and where we should have done better, everybody is realizing that through pain. Nobody will tell us this. We know. But we have to learn from this. We have become a unit and it must not be broken.
“Nobody should point a finger towards the other, that somebody has done this, somebody has done that. We will learn from this and will not repeat our mistakes in the future. Am telling you, this bond must not break just for one defeat. This is the time to help each other,” Babar had said in his dressing room speech after Pakistan's exit.
