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 allrounder 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 among those who left after Islamist extremists began a campaign to rule the valley under their harsh interpretation of Sharia law.
