Celebration of World Book Day

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Rangers Cricket Club celebrates 56th anniversary

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Rangers Cricket Club, one of the oldest cricket clubs of the country, celebrated its 56th birthday with traditional enthusiasm at the NBP Sports Complex in Clifton, Karachi, on April 13.

Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, Secretary Communications to Government of Pakistan, in his telephonic address on the occasion, praised the untiring efforts of the officials of the Rangers CC to have kept the club operational for more than five decades. 

“It’s really gladdening to find the Rangers CC working with the same intensity today even after 55 years after its establishment. It has been one of the leading cricket clubs of Karachi and its role in the development of the game from the grassroots level merits recognition,” he remarked. 

“Its founder members may have retired from service from the various institutions they worked for but they have not lost the passion to run the Rangers CC which remains very dear to their heart,” Shoaib Siddiqui, also having served at the position of Commissioner, Karachi, complimented. 

Dr Waqar Masood Khan, a former Secretary Finance to Government of Pakistan, and President of the Rangers CC, expressed the desire to make the club more proactive in order to fulfill its cherished goals. 

“Although we are today celebrating 56 years of our existence, I find that it’s about time to turn it around by conducting meetings a bit more regularly to acquire funds and utilize them for carrying out more activities for our youngsters who deserve to be given more exposure for unfolding their talents,” the Rangers CC President stated. 

 Acknowledging the meritorious services of the club secretary, Zia-ul-Hasan, who was also present on the occasion, he floated the idea of compilation of a book documenting the 56-year old history of the club. 

Rangers CC, in accordance with its traditions, honoured its outstanding performers for the 2018-19 season, who were presented shields and kits, in the annual ceremony. 

Ahmed Hussain was declared as the best batsman while Nasir Ali was adjudged as the best bowler. The award for the best all-rounder was clinched by Babar Hussain while S M Babar and Hayatullah Khan claimed the prizes for the best wicketkeeper and the best fielder respectively. 

The Rangers CC shields were also presented to the Municipal Commissioner, Dr Syed Saif-ur-Rahman and former IG Sindh, Asad Jahangir Khan, while the trio of Saleem Swelah, Umar Shahid and Asim Altaf was recognized for their performance for the club during decades of 1960s and 1970s. 

The function was also attended by eminent personalities which included Iqbal Mahmood, Kunwar Idris, Anwar Haji Karim and Amin Dawood besides Prof Siraj-ul-Islam Bukhari, former President, Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA).

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Alvi to represent Pakistan in BFAME 2019

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Alvi qualified for participation in the upcoming BFAME Zonal Championship 2019 after emerging triumphant in the national bridge trials for open team conducted at the Aslam Bridge Hall, housed in the National Stadium, Karachi. 

According to the details shared by the Karachi Bridge Associates (KBA) on April 10, Alvi, comprising of Farooq Alvi, Jahangir Ahmed, Arslan Mansoor, Hamed Mohiuddin, Muhammad Mubashir Puri and Khaled Mohiuddin, outsmarted all their six rivals in the four-day event. They will now represent Pakistan in the BFAME Championship due to be held in June at Jordan. 

Kizilbashing, featuring Anwar Mumtaz Kizilbash, Ali Hai, Zia Hai, Anis-ur-Rehman and Farhat Abbas, crashed in the final while Bilal, having the services of Gulzar Ahmed Bilal, Sheikh Abdul Muqeet, Javed Ahmed Miran, Shahin Iqbal and Masood Mazhar, and Spel, containing Muhammad Salman Qasim, Yasser Rahim, Mirza Shauq Hussain, Imran Abedi, Ahsan Javed Qureshi and Zia Hyder Naqi, were outwitted in the semifinals. 

The trials for selection of the open team had commenced on April 6 and concluded on April 9. Seven teams participated in the trials from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, the three major centres of the country, who were engaged in the brainy warfare. 

Bilal, Alvi, Kizilbashing and Spel had entered the semifinals after the preliminary round matches. Kizilbashing outpaced Spel and Alvi outplayed Bilal in the semifinals and Alvi was up against Kizilbashing in the final. 

Alvi, having the representation from Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore, started the final with a bang, winning the opening segment 70-38. They capitalized on the grand start and went on to win the following two segments as well with the final scores being Alvi 156-141 Imps. 

Tehseen, having Hasan Askari, Tehsin Gheewala, Parvez Mirza, Farrukh Liaquat, Mohsin Chandna and Rashid-ul-Ghazi, Chandna, possessing Shakeel Ahmed Chandna, Major Akhter Zaidi, Syed Abdul Hameed, Col Nasir, Syed Asghar Abbas Zaidi and Ghulam Mohammad, and Romex, fielding Shahid Rafique, Shafiq Janjua, Rashid Nabi and Sajid Nabi, were the other three participating team in the national trials.

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Nadeem Omar made the difference in PSL: Fawad Ijaz Khan

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Chairman of the Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA), Fawad Ijaz Khan, has declared that Nadeem Omar, the owner of Quetta Gladiators, was the difference among the otherwise evenly matched six participating squads in the recently held fourth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

“His motivational qualities played the key role in guiding his team to title victory this time round after they had been edged out in the final two times in three previous editions of the PSL,” he observed during his speech in the dinner hosted at the Karachi Gymkhana on April 8 by the PVCA in the honour of Quetta Gladiators for winning the PSL-4. 

“Each of the six teams contained power hitters and match winners. But it was the management skills and the incredible passion of its owner which tilted the tide decisively towards Quetta Gladiators,” the PVCA Chairman added. 

Inspired by the terrific response from the spectators in Karachi during the PSL-4, urged the authorities to either build a new stadium or enhance the seating capacity of the National Stadium to facilitate the passionate cricket lovers of the most populous city of Pakistan. 

Saeed Ghani, Sindh Minister for Local Government, Public Health Engineering, Rural Development and Katchi Abadies, who was the chief guest of the evening, acceded to the request of the PVCA Chairman and agreed to play his role in developing more cricket facilities in the metropolis. 

Encouraged by successfully staging the Karachi leg of the PSL, the Government of Sindh has agreed in principle in developing more facilities for fuelling the passion of the cricket-loving population of the metropolis. 

Saeed Ghani confirmed the willingness of the provincial government to further play its role in the promotion of cricket, the number one sport of the country. 

Sharing his thoughts candidly, the provincial minister talked about the hardships and the challenges faced by the provincial government in staging as many as eight matches of PSL-4 in Karachi without a single mishap. 

He complimented the law enforcement agencies and the city administration in particular for rising to the occasion. 

The Commissioner Karachi, Iftikhar Ali Shallwani, also spoke about the organizational aspects of the PSL-4 and he acknowledged the support of all the stakeholders in making the event a big success. 

Nadeem Omar, the owner of Quetta Gladiators and the President of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), attributed the recent triumph of his team in the PSL as a result of teamwork rather than individual brilliance.

“We have been firm believers of teamwork. We have been operating like an extended family all along and the results have been there for everyone to see. It’s little wonder that ours has been the most consistent side in the PSL even though many people felt that we didn’t have too many megastars in our ranks,” he observed. 

Nadeem Omar made special mention of his family members for having been involved with Quetta Gladiators with heart and soul to keep everyone motivated and inspired. 

The Quetta Gladiators skipper, Sarfraz Ahmed, who is also the captain of Pakistan in all three formats, in his brief speech, thanked everyone in the team for having given their best to achieve the desired results. 

Former Pakistan captain and now the head coach of Quetta Gladiators, Moin Khan, expressed similar views and he was even more appreciative of the role of the management and the support staff in the success of the team on the field. 

Alamgir Ahmed, President, Sindh Seniors Cricket & Welfare Association, delivered the welcome address. 

The ceremony was attended by a large number of cricketers and others which included Nasim-ul-Ghani, Wasim Bari, Sadiq Muhammad, Ijaz Faqih, Jalaluddin, Mansoor Akhtar, Anwar Ali, Rashid Khan, Ghulam Ali, Sajid Ali, Prof Siraj-ul-Islam Bukhari, Prof Ejaz Ahmed Farooqui, Shariq Hasib Khan, Qamar Ahmed, Lt Gen (Rtd.) Wasim Ghazi, Asad Ashraf Malik, Fawad Malik and Azam Khan.

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