I enjoy bowling alongside Shaheen Afridi and I like his aggression: Hasan Ali
Hasan Ali was menacing on the first day of the Test series opener between Pakistan and Zimbabwe. He trapped four batsmen and conceded 53 runs and was, particularly, impressive with the old ball. His consistency was impeccable today and it seems like the pacer is gradually getting back to his old rhythm before he got plagued with injuries.
Zimbabwe won the toss and opted to bat first. It was the correct call from Brendan Taylor but Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali bowled well in tandem and challenged the outside edge consistently, not allowed the hosts to get off the hook.
Hasan Ali snared Kevin Kasuza - who went without troubling the scorers. Thereon, he got the prized scalp of Zimbabwe skipper Brendan Taylor on five, Roy Kaia missed out on a half-century and was removed on 48 by a perfect yorker that rapped him on the pads and umpire Rusere raised the dreaded finger. Regis Chakabva added valuable 19 runs down the order and then fell prey to a searing delivery in the corridor as he edged one to Imran Butt at slip cordon.
Hasan Ali enjoyed sharing the new ball with Shaheen Afridi as the both fired up bowlers initiated a storm and the pressure was on the Zimbabwe batsmen from both ends with respite hard to come by.
"Whenever I perform and team wins, it's a matter of great delight. Yes, we couldn't dominate the way we should have in the T20 series and we discussed that ahead of the Test series. Shaheen Afridi took four wickets and I took four wickets too and spinners supported us and so we are trying to dominate right from day one. I enjoy bowling alongside Shaheen and I like his aggression. The right and left-hand combination is advantageous for any team," said Hasan Ali.
Hasan has been focusing on his batting while recovering from the nagging injury and he is optimistic to chip in with the bat and contribute in all departments of the game.
"The two years I spent while recovering from injury, I worked a lot on my batting and apart from bowling, I want to contribute from the bat as well for the team. We can't always take a fifer in each game but every player strives to perform so we must understand this. It's not like we don't know how to bowl yorkers but we have to bowl according to the plan given and we have to be mindful of the situation of the game," he added.
The dextrous bowler anticipated reverse swing coming into play later in the match when the pitch becomes drier. He also expects a greater role of spinners on the fourth and fifth day of the match as the bowl might start to spin viciously through the cracks.
"The conditions are slow but I am used to these conditions because of the way I played the entire domestic season and you do get reverse on these pitches especially as the Test goes along. Our spinner Sajid Khan has done really well at the domestic level and has been the highest wicket-taker, Nauman Ali has been the leading performer. On the fourth or fifth day, the bowl will break and the spinner will likely get more wickets. I believe if we bowl at the right line and length, we can find success against any batting line-up," said Hasan Ali.
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