Laying on a private hospital bed, ailing Test cricketer Abid Ali has requested his fans and well-wishers to pray for his early recovery.
“I am thankful to God as I faring well,” said Abid Ali while recording his video. “I request all of you to pray for me as I have a small medical procedure tomorrow. So I request all my family members, fans and all my well-wishers to pray for me.”
A stent has been placed in Abid’s blocked coronary artery in an angioplasty surgery – a procedure to open blocked coronary arteries. According to the cricketer, a second stent will be placed today. After the medical procedure, the cricketer will be kept under observation at the intensive care unit of the hospital.
On Tuesday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said Abid Ali was diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome after he complained of chest pain during a match of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
The match between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Abid’s team Central Punjab was being played at the UBL Sports Complex, Karachi, when the player felt pain and was rushed to a “cardiac hospital” for treatment, PCB said.
Abid left the batting crease at 61 in Central Punjab’s second innings, it added. According to PCB, he is under the care of a consultant cardiologist who is liaising with the PCB medical team regarding further treatment.
“He is currently stable,” the statement said. The PCB requested the media and fans to “respect his and the family’s privacy at this time”.
Earlier, hospital sources said that Abid Ali underwent precautionary medical tests and all his initial reports were “clear”. His ECG report was normal while the result of another test relating to the presence of protein in heart tissues came back negative, the sources said.
Abid Ali’s record
Since his Quaid-e-Azam Trophy debut in 2007, Abid has been a constant presence on Pakistan’s domestic circuit, amassing over 6,000 runs since.
He batted for Islamabad in 2017-18, scoring 231, then followed that up with an undefeated 249 in his ODI debut a few months later.
The player first represented Pakistan internationally at the age of 31.
