"It is Ramadan and lads are fasting I think it is only fair that the players are doing it, so I should join them," Hartley says          

Multan Sultans’ spin bowling coach Alex Hartley gestures during the team's training session on March 2, 2024. — Instagram/alexhartley93

Multan Sultan's spin bowling coach Alex Hartley has opened up on fasting during the ongoing ninth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL 9) shedding light on her experience on abstaining from food and water throughout the day.

Elaborating on her experience of fasting while speaking to BBC 5 Live Sport, Hartley said: "We have just broken our fast now after we fasted all day. I have had some dates and some salad. We can eat till 4am and then we don’t eat again till 6:40pm the next day. It is hard, so hard."

"I go to bed at 4am and sleep during the day, as our games start at 9pm in the night," she added.

Commenting on her decision to observe fast, the former English cricketer said that she wanted to understand what it's like for the rest of the team members and how they feel as they step into the field after fasting throughout the day.

"It is Ramadan and the lads are fasting. So I thought I really want to understand how they're feeling when they get to the game. I think it is only fair that the players are doing it, so I should join them [in fasting]," she noted.

It is pertinent to know that Sultans became the first team to qualify for the final of the ninth edition of PSL after beating Babar Azam’s Peshawar Zalmi in the Qualifier on March 14.

Mohammad Rizwan’s men successfully chased down the 147-run target without much difficulty and qualified for their fourth consecutive final.

They will now take on the winner of the second eliminator which will be played between Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United in Karachi on Saturday.