Asif Ali leaves for England to join Pakistan World Cup squad; posts emotional tweet on daughter’s demise

For Asif Ali, these are times of mixed emotions. The 27-year-old talented Pakistani batsman got a call into his country’s final squad for the World Cup starting May 30 but he lost his infant daughter days ahead of the tournament. His two-year-old child Noor Fatima was suffering from an advanced stage of cancer and died in the US where she was undergoing treatment, earlier this week. Asif’s loss was mourned by former cricketers and other fraternity across borders and the bereaved father tweeted saying she had returned to Allah.

On Saturday, he left the US for England to join the Pakistan cricket team to take part in the upcoming World Cup. The Men in Green kick off their campaign at Trent Bridge on May 31 when they meet the West Indies. Asif, who made it to the team in place of Abid Ali after scoring two fifties in the recent ODI series against England, tweeted “These are the final few lines for my princess Dua Fatima. Meri beti k liye dua or Fateha ki darkhwast hai. Aap sab k liye duaaain!”

He also said in the same post that he was leaving to join the national team in Pakistan for the World Cup journey. Asif’s tweet was also accompanied by a statement in which he thanked everyone who stood by him in “this extremely difficult time”.

“I want to extend my special gratitude to all doctors, US Consulate General Lahore, Pakistan Embassy of Chicago and New York, Mayo Clionic Rochester, Pakistani community of Minnesota, entire media family and may fans for their extra ordinary support unconditional care, love and prayers for my daughter,” he said in the statement.

Asif, who made his international debut last year, has scored 342 runs from 16 matches with three fifties. He has also played in 20 T20Is in which he scored 280 runs.

Leaving today to join Pakistan team in UK for our Cricket World Cup journey. We as a team will be in need of your prayers & unconditional support.

These are the final few lines for my princess Dua Fatima. Meri beti k liye dua or Fateha ki darkhwast hai. Aap sab k liye duaaain! pic.twitter.com/XeS9ducwZZ

— Asif Ali (@AasifAli2018) May 25, 2019

Pakistan lost to Afghanistan in a warm-up game

Meanwhile, Pakistan played their first warm-up game before the World Cup in Bristol on Friday against Afghanistan and were beaten by 3 wickets. Babar Azam scored a century that took his team to 262 but Sarfaraz Ahmed’s bowlers failed to impress yet again as they allowed the opponents to overhaul the target with two balls to spare.

Pakistan play Bangladesh in their second warm-up game on May 26.

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