Pakistan Test opener Abid Ali has been cleared to resume his career after a hiatus of four months since undergoing Angioplasty.
Ali has been out of competitive cricket since December 2021, when he complained of chest pain while batting during a Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture.
He was subsequently diagnosed with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) and was put on conservative cardiac rehabilitation.
Ali recently started walking on treadmills before being allowed to gradually move at a certain defined pace in the field. The southpaw underwent multiple tests during his stay at the High-Performance Center, post which he was allowed to feature in a local T20 tournament by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Speaking to Cricinfo, Abid expressed his delight at regaining full recovery and the prospect of representing the national side again.
He said, "I am really excited to be back with the prospect of playing for Pakistan again. Doctors cleared me to go back on the field, and I can finally return to live a normal life. I will be on medicines for some time because of the stents implanted, but I am feeling great physically. I am diving, running, jogging, batting, and it's really great to be normal again."
Doubts hovered around his playing future at the time of his diagnosis, but Ali said he never lost hope.
"There were doubts if I could play again with a heart condition, but I didn't lose hope. I stopped thinking about cricket for some time and focused on regaining a healthy life first. It was tough, but the recovery has been great with all the extensive rehabilitation," he added.
In the absence of Ali, Pakistan played the duo of Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique as their openers in the recent series against the Australians.
With the duo performing well and Shan Masood, who is in the midst of a purple patch in county cricket at the moment, knocking on the doors as the third opener, it will be difficult for Abid to stake an immediate claim to the opening spot in the forthcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.
"I am not sure what my national selection status is right now, but I am fully set for my comeback. PCB has been of great help throughout, taking very good care of me. I am thankful for their support and guidance. For now, I started with the shorter format by playing three-four games in the Ramzan tournament in Faisalabad, and it went well,"
Ali has represented Pakistan in 16 Tests and has scored 1180 runs at an average of 49.6 with four hundreds and three 50s against his name.