Pakistan pacer Hasan Ali has responded to claims made by former Pakistan team director and all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez about players sleeping during the Test series against Australia in December-January.

Hafeez, who served as the team’s director and interim head coach from November 2023 to February 2024, shared his concerns about discipline within the team during an interview with cricketing greats Michael Vaughan and Adam Gilchrist. In the interview, Hafeez did not mince words about the issue. “You tell me, Gilly, if a player is sleeping in the dressing room while we’re playing Test cricket. Four to five players are sleeping in the dressing room. Should I allow that as a team director?” Hafeez questioned.

Responding with a touch of humor, Vaughan quipped, “Are they tired?” to which Hafeez continued seriously, “I really don’t know. I went into the dressing room and found 4-5 players sleeping while playing Test cricket. I was like, ‘How come you guys can do that?’ If you do something like this, you cannot be a part of this team.”

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In an exclusive interview with a local sports platform, Hasan Ali addressed Hafeez’s claims in detail. “I don’t know, actually, but it should be the way Hafeez said. I don’t think anyone slept in the dressing room after that. When Hafeez said that, I was not part of the first game. All the players who were not part of the playing XI were sitting in the dugout watching the game. Even the management was sitting there. But I would say especially for the fast bowlers, when you bowl for one and a half days you need to recover, and you could take a 20-30 minute nap, but for those who feel like they need,” Hasan said.

“In the past, the management set the rule that if someone needed a nap for recovery, especially the fast bowlers, they could do that. But if Hafeez, as the head coach and director of cricket, said no one was going to sleep, then fair enough. If he set the rule, we had to follow it,” he added.