Diary of a memorable trip to home city Karachi

By Naeem-ul-Haq in USA

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Karachi is the city of my birth and this is the place I have been visiting regularly over the years to meet my near and dear ones, after having relocated in the United States of America (USA), which indeed is my new home. 

Although all my trips of Karachi help me in recapturing golden moments and building fresh memories but the latest one, in November 2024, was probably the most memorable, considering my engagements in various reunions and get-togethers with many of those who were my childhood friends and we had played cricket for decades together. 

Obviously, it’s not easy to describe those feelings in words because such were the emotions while interacting with some guys who were reconnecting after a number of years. 

Time has flown, things have changed but none of us seems to have forgotten those days of struggle in cricket fields where we had devoted all our energies and resources to graduate to the next level. 

One of the features of the recent trip to Karachi, spanning 12 days or so, was the fulfilment of a cherished dream of mine. 

I was approached by Geo Super to do live commentary of the Karachi Premier League (KPL) which was a thoroughly enjoyable experience for five days on a trot. 

Describing the action on cricket field, either as a commentator or an expert, has remain my passion by finally I got the opportunity to showcase my skills in this role. 

Going by the feedback, my colleagues Tauseef Ahmed, a former Test off-spinner, and Yahya Hussain informed me having fared pretty reasonably on my commentary debut.

It was a huge honour for me to have been invited as one of the guests in the presentation party for the award ceremony, which was held at the end of every match at the picturesque Naya Nazimabad Stadium which hosted all the matches of the KPL. 

The legendary batsman, Younis Khan, also a buddy of mine, was one of the functionaries of the KPL. It was very kind of him to have accorded very warm welcome to me on every visit of mine to the Naya Nazimabad Stadium. 

My birthday was also celebrated with considerable fanfare at the ground and Younis Khan was the man to have managed it for me. The love and respect he showered on me and my family is beyond description. 

A dinner meeting was arranged at a five-star hotel by my former Pakistan Customs teammate, Waqar Hussain, which was also attended by Javed Miandad, the greatest batsman of our generation. My elder brother, Anwar-ul-Haq, and Haris Khan, both successful former cricketers of our time, were also present on the occasion. 

Then, I had the pleasure of attending a reception of the Fazlur Rahman Sports Club, organized by its livewire patron, Munir Ali Qadri. This brought together my contemporaries like Nasir Shah, Shaukat Mirza, Munir-ul-Haq, Sagheer Abbas, Tafseer Abbas, Ameeruddin, Shahabuddin, Anwar-ul-Haq and Haris Khan. These were magical moments.

After watching the above activities, you may also incline to agree with me that this was a tour to remember. I have returned to my new home mush refresher and obliged.

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