Islamabad: A panel of doctors has concluded Pakistan cricketer Hasan Ali will not require surgery to recover from a back injury after the fast bowler responded positively to a virtual rehabilitation session.
The Pakistan Cricket Board's medical team panel, which includes renowned Australian spinal therapist Prof. Peter O'Sullivan, supervised Hasan's two-hour online session last week.
"The panel was encouraged with the outcomes of the opening session and will continue to closely monitor Hasan's progress over the next five weeks before deciding next steps," the PCB said in a statement on Monday.
Hasan was left off the PCB's list of centrally contracted players last month after he was diagnosed with excessive stress in his lower back in April.
The fast bowler, who has played nine test matches, 53 ODIs and 30 Twenty20s first developed the injury in September, forcing him to miss out on Pakistan's tour of Australia. He eventually recovered ahead of this year's Pakistan Super League, which was postponed in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, before aggravating it again.
"One thing is for certain, he (Hasan) is under the treatment of the very best in the business and hopefully he will return fitter and stronger to competitive cricket without any surgery," said Dr Sohail Saleem, the PCB director of medical and sports sciences.
The PCB also said that despite missing out on central contract, Hasan will get financial support from the cricket board until he regains full fitness.
"Hasan is a young and energetic cricketer who has a lot of cricket left in him," PCB chief executive Wasim Khan said.
"Like most of his followers, the PCB will like to see him regain complete fitness so that he can resume normal services for the Pakistan men's national cricket team. Till that time, the PCB will provide him financial assistance from the PCB Welfare Fund, which exists exactly for this purpose," he added.
