Yorkshire have moved quickly to plug the overseas gap in their Vitality Blast squad, turning to Pakistan fast bowler Hasan Ali after Naveen-ul-Haq was ruled out with a shoulder problem.
Naveen, the Afghanistan right-armer, fractured his right shoulder during the T20 World Cup in February and, despite early optimism, has not recovered in time for the summer. That left Yorkshire hunting for a replacement barely a month before the competition starts.
In Hasan they get experience by the bucket-load. The 31-year-old has 57 T20 caps for Pakistan, a decent haul in franchise leagues from Colombo to Centurion, plus a solid county résumé: 44 Blast wickets for Warwickshire across three seasons at an eye-catching average of 14.93. He even had a red-ball stint with Lancashire, so the English spring shouldn’t come as a shock.
Crucially, the deal covers the entire Blast group stage and two early-season Championship matches – Warwickshire at Edgbaston and Leicestershire at Headingley – giving captain Shan Masood a proven new-ball option in both formats.
Gavin Hamilton, Yorkshire’s general manager of cricket, admitted the swap was forced but sounded upbeat. “Whilst we’re naturally disappointed to not see Naveen join us this year, in Hasan we have an exceptional replacement. He arrives with a wealth of experience and a skillset that we believe will be invaluable to the group. We’re delighted to have secured someone of Hasan’s quality at such short notice, and everyone at the club is looking forward to welcoming him to Headingley next month.”
Numbers are only part of the story, of course. Hasan’s trademark skiddy pace, a sharp bouncer and that pumped-up ‘bomb’ celebration should lift a young attack still finding its feet in white-ball cricket. If his current PSL form – third on this season’s wicket charts – carries across the Arabian Sea, Yorkshire may end up feeling the injury disruption worked in their favour.
