Ali smashed a 17-ball 46 with four towering sixes and three fours to help Pakistan clinch a last-gasp over win in the second Twenty20 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in their recently concluded tour, prompting fans to hail him as the second coming of talismanic all-rounder Shahid Afridi.
“I am thankful to Almighty who helped me reach this point,” Ali, 27, told AFP.
“My life was once very tough as I used to work in a sock-making factory but I clung to the dream of playing for Pakistan.”
Ali migrated as a child from the small village of Zaka Khel in the militancy-wracked Swat Valley that is also home to Nobel peace prize-winning activist Malala Yousafzai.
His family was amongst those who left after extremists began a campaign to rule the valley under their harsh interpretation of Sharia law.
The family made their base in a rundown industrial area of Karachi, where Ali, who lost his father when he was still young, began working as a child labourer for a meagre 150 rupees ($1.50 in current terms) per day.
“Those were very tough days, we came to Karachi in search of peace and safety and as one of the boys of the family I was required to earn and not play,” said the broad-built Ali.
While on the way to the factory, Ali would watch boys play in the street, spurring his dreams of one day making it to the national stage.
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