LAHORE: Pakistan pacer Hasan Ali has responded to former Pakistan team director and all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez’s claims that the players slept during the December-January Test series against Australia.
Hafeez, who served as team director and interim head coach from November 2023 to February 2024, shared his concerns about team discipline during an interview with cricket greats Michael Vaughan and Adam Gilchrist.
In the interview, Hafeez was tight-lipped about the issue. “Tell me Gilly if a player is sleeping in the dressing room while we are playing test cricket. There are 4-5 players sleeping in the dressing room. Should I allow it as a team manager?” Hafeez asked.
Vaughan responded with a touch of humor, quipping: “Are they tired?” to which Hafeez seriously continued: “I really don’t know. I went to the dressing room and found 4-5 players sleeping while playing Test cricket. I was like, ‘How come you guys can do that?’ If you do something like that, you can’t be part of this team.”
In an exclusive interview on a local sports platform, Hasan Ali addressed Hafeez’s claims with a detailed reply.
“Actually I don’t know, but it should be as Hafeez said. I don’t think anyone slept in the dressing room afterwards. When Hafeez said I wasn’t part of the first game, all the players who weren’t part of the playing XI were sitting in the dugout watching game but I would say especially for the fast bowlers where one has to recover for a day and a half and could take a 20-30 minute nap but for those who feel they need it,” Hasan said.
“In the past, the management has made a rule that if someone needs a nap to recover, especially the fast bowlers, they can do it. But if Hafeez, as head coach and director of cricket, has said that no one is going to sleep, then he will realize that.” then fair, if he set a rule, we had to follow it,” he added.
