ALI TO PLAY DESPITE DAUGHTER’S DEATH

asIF alI intends to take his place in Pakistan’s squad for the World Cup despite the death of his daughter on sunday. asif will first fly out to the United states for the funeral of his 19-month-old daughter, who died following a battle with cancer. Pakistan Prime Minister and former all-rounder Imran Khan paid his respects, writing on Twitter: ‘My condolences and prayers go to asif ali and his family on the passing of his daughter from cancer. May allah give them strength to bear such a precious loss.’ asif contributed two half-centuries in the 4-0 one-day series defeat by england which concluded at headingley on sunday. The batsman, along with left-arm pacemen Mohammad amir and Wahab Riaz, have replaced abid ali, Junaid Khan and Faheem ashraf in Pakistan’s 15-man group. amir, who missed the last World Cup while serving a ban for spot-fixing, was left out of the initial squad after suffering a big dip in ODI form.