Pakistan had reached the semi-finals of the last year's T20 World Cup, where it faced a defeat to eventual champions Australia. The Aaron Finch-led side registered a victory with an over to spare, chasing down a 177-run target with five wickets remaining. Matthew Wade's explosive unbeaten knock of 41 off just 17 deliveries took the game away from Pakistan after the side had reduced Australia to 96/5 in 12.2 overs in the run-chase.
One of the key moments in the game took place on the third delivery of the 19th over, when Hasan Ali dropped the all-important catch of Wade. Australia still required 20 runs to win off 10 deliveries when Hasan dropped the catch; what followed was an absolute carnage from the left-handed wicketkeeper-batter.
While Wade took two runs off the dropped catch, he ended the game in the same over with three successive sixes off the remaining three deliveries. Even as Pakistan lost the game, a gesture from the side's veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik won the hearts of cricket fans around the world; following the dropped catch, Malik sprinted through the field and hugged Hasan, and further gave him a pep-talk to cheer the Pakistan star up. A year later, Malik finally revealed what he told Hasan Ali during the moment.
“Koi bhi catch nahi giraana chahta. Vo itna bada match tha, knock out stage ka match tha. World T20 ka semi-final ho aur crunch situation me catch gir jaaye, vo feelings vo hi banda bata sakta hai jis se catch gira ho. Ek hi cheez mere dimaag me aayi thi, ki iski jagah main hota toh mere dil me kya chal raha hota. (No one wants to drop a catch. It was a big game, it was a knock-out match. This was the semi-final of the T20 World Cup and when someone drops a catch at such a crunch situation, only he would be able to tell what it actually feels like. I only thought, ‘what would I’ve been feeling if I had dropped a catch there'),” Malik said during a conversation on A Sports.
{{/usCountry}}“Koi bhi catch nahi giraana chahta. Vo itna bada match tha, knock out stage ka match tha. World T20 ka semi-final ho aur crunch situation me catch gir jaaye, vo feelings vo hi banda bata sakta hai jis se catch gira ho. Ek hi cheez mere dimaag me aayi thi, ki iski jagah main hota toh mere dil me kya chal raha hota. (No one wants to drop a catch. It was a big game, it was a knock-out match. This was the semi-final of the T20 World Cup and when someone drops a catch at such a crunch situation, only he would be able to tell what it actually feels like. I only thought, ‘what would I’ve been feeling if I had dropped a catch there'),” Malik said during a conversation on A Sports.
{{/usCountry}}“I told him ki this is not the end of the world. Koi masla nahi hai, we are still in the game. Jab last ball ho jaayegi, aap kuch bhi sochna. You are standing in the hotspot, maybe next ball aapke paas fir catch aa jaaye. (I told him that it's not the end of the world. There's no need to worry, we are still in the game. You think all you want about it after the final ball is bowled. You are standing in the hotspot, maybe a catch comes to you again on the very next ball),” Malik revealed.
Both, Malik and Hasan are not a part of Pakistan's squad for this year's T20 World Cup, that begins on October 22. Pakistan will open their campaign in the tournament on Sunday later this week when the side takes on arch-rivals India in Melbourne.