Hasan Ali asked for a “strong bench” for the Pakistan cricket team rather than going for the “big surgery” which was indicated by the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Mohsin Naqvi.
After Pakistan lost to India in the T20 World Cup 2024, Naqvi hinted at a big surgery and said, “It seemed that a minor surgery would work, but after this bad performance, I’m now sure that a major surgery is required. The nation will soon see a major overhaul."
However, Hasan, who won the Champions Trophy 2017, is not of the same mind as Naqvi and has stated that changing all 11 players is not possible because there are not enough options on the bench.
"I don't know in what context the chairman has mentioned surgery. Will they change all 11 players? Which is not possible. I am really sorry to say because we don't have such backups that we can change all 11 players,” Hasan said while talking to a local cricket website.
“I don't know what surgery will be, but things should be absolutely right and should be done for the betterment of cricket. The chairman should take strong steps and make firm decisions.”
The 30-year-old cited examples of other cricketing nations who have multiple squads saying that there would not be any talk of surgery if Pakistan had a strong bench.
"We should strengthen our bench strength, which every team in the world does. We have seen in the recent past that one country continues to field two teams on international tours,” Hasan added.
“If Pakistan had these two teams today, we wouldn't have to talk about doing surgery or this or that. Now, for example, a Test series is coming up and Pakistan won't have an alternate spinner. To perform surgery, surgical equipment is essentially needed.”
- Hasan Ali
