Pakistan middle-order batsman Asif Ali was dealt a huge personal blow when his 2-year-old daughter died fighting against cancer on Sunday in a hospital in USA. The child, Noor Fatima, was battling a stage 4 cancer.
Asif has left his team’s ongoing tour of UK where he scored 22 runs in the fifth and final ODI against England at Headingley in Leeds. The Sarfaraz Ahmed-led Pakistan lost that match by 54 runs to go down 4-0 in the five-match series, with the first game washed out due to rain at The Oval. Asif smashed two half-centuries on the tour, including his career-best of 52 in the third ODI at the Rose Bowl in Bristol.
He has thus far clubbed 342 runs in 16 ODIs at a normal average of 31.09. The 27-year-old wasn’t included in Pakistan’s preliminary squad for the upcoming World Cup. But has carved out a place for himself in the final 15-man roster that was announced on Monday.
The World Cup squads could’ve been tweaked until May 23 as was allowed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Pakistan made agood use of it. But getting picked up for the quadrennial event the very first time, won’t have filled the despair that Asif must be suffering.
The Faisalabad born cricketer on Tuesday took to Twitter to express the grief regarding the same.
“My daughter my angle returned to Allah last night. May Allah grant her jannat.
Thanks everyone for you support, love, messages & prayers during this tough time,” he wrote in his social media post.
My daughter my angle returned to Allah last night.
May Allah grant her jannat.
Thanks everyone for you support, love, messages & prayers during this tough time.— Asif Ali (@AasifAli45) May 20, 2019
