Former Pakistan bowling coach Azhar Mahmood has revealed the reason behind right-arm pacer Hasan Ali’s recent troubles with injury.

Hasan was ruled out of home Tests against Sri Lanka last year after CT scans revealed cortical rib fractures, involving ninth rib on the right side and eighth and ninth ribs on the left side.

While speaking on a local news channel, the 45-year-old said that too much emphasis on gym training led to the pacer’s injury.

"Hasan didn’t get injured playing cricket. He got injured during training when the management made him deadlift around 130 to 140 kilograms (kg) of weight," Mahmood said. "I don’t mind weight training but you need to gradually build players. If someone has not deadlifted more than 100 kg before and you ask him to lift 130 kg, then obviously he will get injured. He got injured in the gym."

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The former cricketer believes Hasan was not able to keep up with the burden of expectations from fans since 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.

"In the Champions Trophy we were getting wickets early and then Shadab Khan and Hasan Ali combination used to work in the middle overs and win us matches," he said. "Hasan and Shadab performed exceedingly well in Champions Trophy, after which everyone expected more from them. Everyone started expecting Hasan to take wickets whenever he came on to bowl. But then people immediately wrote him off when he didn’t perform because they expected a lot from him. If you look at his performance, it hasn’t come down a lot as he is still taking wickets but it is not at the same level as it was in Champions Trophy."

Mahmood also advised the Pakistan team management to support their players when they go through a rough patch.

"Every player goes through highs and lows in his career. Management needs to back their players if they are going through a tough time instead of writing him off and saying he is finished and is focusing on things other cricket," he said. "Players like Hasan Ali, Shadab and Faheem Ashraf are Pakistan’s future, so back them and don’t just replace them straight away with other bowlers."