Owais Shah recalls not being able to sleep after Denly's KO

Johannesburg, Sep.29 (ANI): England middle order bat Owais Shah recalls not being able to sleep after he put opener Joe Denly into hospital with a football tackle during practice.

Shah, who was severely reprimanded by his skipper Andrew Strauss, after the incident, is now cricket's new big-hitting star.

Shah embodies England's incredible turnaround in the Champions Trophy in the past few days, reports The Sun.

He plundered six sixes in a brilliant innings of 98 on Sunday against South Africa as England qualified for the semi-finals.

The cricket world was stunned with the power and quality of his striking as England piled up 323-8 and dumped out the hosts. Eoin Morgan hit five sixes in his 67 from 34 balls.

During the 6-1 series defeat against Australia, Shah was mocked and vilified for his running, poor fielding, soft dismissals and putting Joe Denly in hospital during a warm-up football match.

"You'll probably find this hard to believe, but I struggled to sleep that night after the incident with Joe. I rang the physio and was very concerned I'd caused him serious harm especially as he was about to make his debut," Shah said.

"I literally clipped Joe's leg when we went for the ball together. He's fine now so I'm happy. It's been a difficult couple of weeks, hard to cope with. But I never doubted myself - if I did that there's no point in playing," he added. (ANI)