WATCH: When Hasan Ali dropped a sitter against Kent, but fooled umpire by continuing with celebration
Apart from the skiddy nature of his bowling, Pakistan right-arm quick Hasan Ali is also known for his interesting style of celebrating a wicket. After every dismissal of his, Hasan bends his knees a little before throwing both his ends up as if he is mimicking an explosion. A pocket-size dynamo, some fans call him for this.
But there was one instance when the bowler’s unique celebration style also brought him at the centre of controversy. The incident happened during a tour match against English county club Kent back in 2019, where the pacer claimed a catch despite dropping the ball out of his hands.
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Hasan Ali found himself in midst of controversy after claiming a dropped catch
The incident came to light via a video footage that went viral over social media in April 2019. In the clip below, Hasan Ali can be seen losing control of the ball as he went about grabbing it and yet the pacer celebrated as if the catch had been taken cleanly.
Pakistan & Hasan Ali say the catch was taken & then the celebration
Kent feel that the ball was dropped during the celebration#KENTvPAK pic.twitter.com/EsHQqLgfIM
— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) April 28, 2019
Despite the obvious, Kent batsman Alex Blake was given out caught & bowled by the officiating umpires who deemed Hasan Ali’s attempt clean. Blake had batted tremendously for his knock of 89 off 48 balls till then but had to make a long walk back to the pavillion after a highly debatable dismissal.
- As per the laws of the game, a catch is completed only when “a fielder obtains complete control over both the ball and his/her own movement” and from the evidence of the video, it could be said with confidence that Hasan hadn’t obtained any control of the ball when he went about claiming the catch and celebrated for it.
Blake’s wicket triggered an early end to the Kent innings as they were bundled out for 258 in 44.1 overs, chasing Pakistan’s gigantic score of 358/7. Hasan Ali ended the day with figures of 2/35 off his 7 overs.