Nadeem Omar honours ICC President

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Nadeem Omar, an acclaimed sports patron, has firmly set the tradition of honouring the living legends and the evening dedicated to the President of the International Cricket Council (ICC), Zaheer Abbas, also known as the Asian Bradman, was an extension of it. 

The Crystal Ball Room of Hotel Marriott in Karachi was the venue of the reception hosted in the honour of the ICC President by Omar Associates on May 22 and it turned out be yet another memorable gathering of cricket fraternity. 

Jamshed Omar, Founder and Chairman of Omar Associates (Pvt) Ltd, presented a shield to Zaheer Abbas, who also received a gold medal from Nadeem Omar, the firm’s Managing Director. 

Speaking on the occasion, Zaheer Abbas complimented the hosts for having set the tradition of national heroes. 

“This is an extraordinary service to the nation. Heroes are meant to be honoured and respected. It reflects that we are a vibrant and cultured nation. We need more people like Nadeem Omar in Pakistan to keep doing this more often,” the Asian Bradman declared. 

“Nadeem Omar, besides being a great patron of sports, is also a very lively person with whom I have fond memories on many tours. He is an enterprising person, having been gifted with a fabulous mind and a generous heart. He deserves to be complimented for his outstanding efforts,” Zaheer Abbas complimented. 

He regretted the decline in the standard of the game in Pakistan in the recent past but expressed the hope that things will get better as soon as foreign teams start visiting Pakistan in not too distant future. 

 “It’s indeed painful for me to note that our batsmen are not being able to perform consistently at the highest level for quite a long time now. The batting legends have retired long time ago. It really hurts at times because we have had a formidable batting line-up in our era,” he felt. 

The former Pakistan captain, who scored prolifically in Tests as well as the One-day Internationals, said he’s satisfied with his own performance as the ICC President during one-year tenure. 

Nadeem Omar, in his welcome speech, described Zaheer Abbas as a jewel in crown, who has made the country proud with his accomplishments as a cricketer as well as an administrator. 

“He was not only hero from the time I started following cricket but he was idolized by millions of people from all over the world. His batting remained poetry in motion and we all loved his stylish stroke-play,” 

Nadeem Omar reflected. 

Fawad Ijaz Khan, Chairman, Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA), Salahuddin Ahmed, former chief selector, Prof Ejaz Ahmed Farooqui, President, Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), Arif Habib, Chairman, Arif Habib Group, Qamar Ahmed, veteran journalist, Mansoor Masood Khan, Member Governing Board, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Moin Khan, former Pakistan captain, were the other speakers on the occasion. 

The ceremony was attended by a large number of eminent cricketers, including Jalaluddin, Saleem Yousuf, Sikander Bakht, Nadeem Khan, Ghulam Ali, Mahmood Hamid and Tanvir Ahmed.