Pakistan Test batter Abid Ali optimistic of successful return from heart problem

Gallery

MORE...

Sports

Freya Deshmane wins gold in first Winter Horse Show organised by Amateur Riders’ Club

Freya Deshmane riding on Reinroe Adare Acrobat claimed the top spot and clinched the gold

Salah sets Premier League record in Liverpool's draw at Newcastle

India Open Competition in Shotgun begins in Jaipur, paving way for Nationals' qualification

Hockey India names Amir Ali-led 20-man team for Junior Asia Cup

Harmanpreet Singh named FIH Player of the Year, PR Sreejesh gets best goalkeeper award

World Boxing medallist Gaurav Bidhuri to flag off 'Delhi Against Drugs' movement on Nov 17

MORE...

Pakistan Test batter Abid Ali optimistic of successful return from heart problem

Last Updated : 13 Jan 2022 01:01:04 PM IST

Pakistan Test player Abid Ali

Pakistan Test player Abid Ali is hoping for a successful return to the game as he began his rehabilitation after undergoing angioplasty in December 2021. "The PCB medical team has prepared a rehab plan for me. God willing, I will try to hold the bat as early as I can and start training. "Cricket is my life. It is a priceless aspect of my life that I do not want to leave. I am trying to return to cricket as soon as I can … I am hopeful that I will make my comeback [in cricket] in this new life that the Almighty has given me," the player was quoted as saying.

Abid Ali began his rehabilitation at the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) National High-Performance Centre on Wednesday under the supervision of the PCB medical team.

The 34-year-old was diagnosed with a case of Acute Coronary Syndrome after he complained of chest pain while batting for Central Punjab against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the last round of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. He underwent a successful angioplasty in December 2021.

"As cricket has a second innings, the Almighty has given me a second life," Abid was quoted as saying by the PCB. "I cannot thank the Almighty enough that I am sitting here today."

The right-handed opener talked about the incident in a video interview with the PCB.

"I started to feel uneasiness and pain while batting," Abid Ali said. "It worried me. When the pain intensified, I did some running and also consulted my batting partner Azhar Ali.

"Subsequently and with the permission of the umpires, I left the field. But as I reached the rope, I started to vomit and got dizzy. The team physio and doctor Asad [Central Punjab's team doctor] ran towards me, took off my pads, and rushed me to a hospital."

The batter said that he was in a state of shock when diagnosed with Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Abid had taken the pain that he felt in his chest as a usual muscular one, but it was after the doctors put him under tests that the gravity of the situation was unveiled.

"I was not aware that I was having a heart issue," he said. "The doctors conducted ECG (electrocardiogram), which did not come out fine. They asked me how I was even walking and told me, 'A normal person's heart operates at 55 percent, while mine was operating a 30 percent. A valve of your heart is blocked and we will have to insert two stents'. That left me in a state of shock."

The PCB's medical team has put together a rehabilitation plan for Abid to help him in his return to the sport for which the right-hander is eager, said reports in Pakistan media.