Karachi-Former Pakistan cricket team bowling coach Azhar Mahmood has slammed head coach-cum-chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq claiming that pacer Hasan Ali was injured after he was made to do 130kg deadlift during the team’s gym session.
According to Mahmood, Hasan was asked to deadlift 130kg — a weight he had not attempted before — and that led him to develop his longstanding rib and back problems which saw him miss a significant part of the cricket calendar. Following his injury, Hasan was forced to sit out of multiple events ranging from the home Test series against Sri Lanka to the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches.
“The management made him [Hasan] deadlift around 130 to 140kg. If someone has not lifted more than 100kg before and you ask him to lift 130kg, then obviously he would get injured. He got injured in the gym,” said the former cricketer.
Mehmood, who in his playing days represented the national team in as many as 21 Tests and 143 One Day Internationals (ODI) from 1996 to 2007, said: “Hasan and Shadab were brilliant in the Champions Trophy. Everyone started expecting Hasan to take wickets whenever he came on to bowl but then people wrote him off when he didn’t perform.
“The management needs to back their players if they are going through a tough time instead of saying that he is finished or is focused on things other cricket.”