Prof Siraj Bukhari condoles Waqar Hasan’s demise

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services) 

Prof Syed Siraj-ul Islam Bukhari, the longest serving office-bearer of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), has been saddened by the death of Pakistan’s former Test batsman, Waqar Hasan, who passed away recently in Karachi recently following a brief illness. 

“The passing away of Waqar Hasan, the last surviving member of Pakistan’s first-ever Test team, has made the entire cricket community sorrowful and heavy-hearted,” Prof Siraj Bukhari, who served the KCCA as President for four years after being its elected Honorary Secretary for a staggering three decades,” observed in his condolence message. 

“Having worked closely with him for a number of years, I am deeply grieved and depressed at his tragic demise. He captained the Karachi teams of which I used to be the manager. We had extremely cordial relationship as he was such a fantastic cricketer and a thorough gentleman,” the former KCCA boss recalled. 

“Besides being a stylish middle-order batsman and a safe fielder, he was an able leader who inspired his teammates with his positive approach. After being Pakistan’s highest run-getter in the inaugural Test series against India in 1952-53, he continued to score consistently at the international level and was regarded as a dependable batsman. He was certainly one of the pillars on whom the Pakistan team rested in the formative years,” Prof Siraj Bukhari complimented. 

“After hanging his boots and later making a name for himself in the business arena, he returned to cricket in the role of an administrator. He also served with distinction as the Honorary Treasurer of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB),” he added. 

“Acclaimed as one of the most respected personalities of Pakistan cricket, the soft-spoken Waqar Hasan has left a legacy and he will always be remembered and missed,” Prof Siraj Bukhari concluded.

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Prof Siraj Bukhari welcomes return of Test cricket in Karachi

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Prof Syed Siraj-ul-Islam Bukhari, hailed as the father figure of Karachi cricket for a long time, has expressed his joy at the return of Test cricket in Pakistan after the gap of whole decade.

“I would like to congratulate the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Ehsan Mani, for bringing international cricket back to Pakistan with a bang. The entire cricket fraternity of the country is thrilled by watching the cricketers perform in our own backyard,” Prof Bukhari, who has been the President as well as the Secretary of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) for a number of years, remarked in a statement soon after Pakistan had completed a resounding victory over Sri Lanka in the second and final Test, to clinch the series 1-0, at the National Stadium, Karachi, on December 23.

“The icing on the cake is the impressive performance of Pakistan’s team in the field which enabled them to win the Karachi Test against Sri Lanka at the National Stadium so handsomely. The victory in home Test series really tastes sweeter,” he added. 

“In fact I am running short of words in praising the PCB and the Pakistan cricket team for coming up with such sterling performance. They deserve the credit for doing it against the heaviest of odds,” the former KCCA chief reckoned. 

“The accomplishments of opener Abid Ali, who scored a century in each of his first two Tests, will be remembered for a long time. Similarly the firepower of the young fast bowlers, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, augurs well for the future of the Pakistan cricket,” he complimented. 

“It’s such a pleasing sight to watch Test cricket being played again at the National Stadium, Karachi, after 10 years. This has been the happy hunting ground for Pakistan ever since the first Test was played here in 1955. Hopefully we will continue having international matches on a regular basis and every foreign team will be willing to come and play in future,” Prof Bukhari observed. 

It may be recalled that Prof Syed Siraj-ul-Islam Bukhari had remained the face of Karachi cricket for decades. He used to be in the forefront in organizing international matches in Karachi year after year. He has also held important positions in the PCB with domestic cricket organization being his forte.

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Ali Abbas Hasanie honoured in Karachi

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The veteran cricket administrator, Ali Abbas Hasanie, was showered with praise by comrades and contemporaries in a reception hosted in his honour by the former top functionaries of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) on November 23. 

Prof Siraj-ul-Islam Bokhari, a former President and Secretary of the KCCA, and Akram Khan, ex-Joint Secretary, KCCA, arranged the ceremony to recognize the visiting official, having moved to Canada almost five decades ago. It was attended by a large number of Test and first-class cricketers, umpires and organizers. 

It was recalled that Hasanie, one of the founding members of the National Sports Club, established in 1960, had quickly made his mark in the city cricket circles as he worked closely and enthusiastically with Haji Iftikhar, who was one of the zonal chairmen of the KCCA. 

It was disclosed that, upon relocating in Canada way back in 1970, he has remained actively involved in cricket’s organizational matters besides pursuing his career as a management consultant. 

In 2011, he was elected President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Canada (BCCC) which was earlier known as the Canadian Cricket Federation (CCF). 

“My most significant contribution has been reviving international cricket in Canada against the heaviest of odds as I was instrumental in laying the turf pitch at the stadium in Toronto which paved the way for the Indo-Pak ODI series by the name of Sahara Cup to take place there in the 1990s,” Hasanie revealed in his speech on the occasion. 

In his welcome address, Prof Siraj-ul-Islam Bokhari, whose name remained synonymous with Karachi cricket for decades, became little emotional as he expressed his delight at finding a lot of retired and forgotten personalities who had served the cause of the sport diligently in the past. 

The widely respected umpire, Mahboob Shah, who earned the honour of becoming the first Pakistani to stand in a World Cup final, in his address, regretted that the cricket authorities in the country were unwilling to arrange for the training of the umpires which didn’t allow them to break into the elite ICC panel. 

Brig (Retd) Salahuddin, who is still remembered for having uprooted the stumps of the legendary opener Hanif Muhammad in a first-class match, in his speech, expressed the hope that the cricket organizers of today will learn and derive inspiration from their illustrious predecessors in order to carry forward their mission. 

The vote of thanks was presented by Jamil Ahmed while Ghulam Muhammad conducted the ceremony. Prominent among those present on the occasion were former Test cricketers Aftab Baloch, Jalaluddin and Danish Kaneria besides international umpires Saleem Badr and Masroor Ali.

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Value addition of KG Ramazan Festival with KCCA blessings, sponsors’ support

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The 34th edition of Karachi Gymkhana Ramazan Festival Cricket Tournament 2019 for the Omar Associates Trophy, has the blessings of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) as well as the sponsorship support of some enterprising corporations.

The details about the four-week end, due to commence on the first day of the holy month, were shared in a media briefing here at the Gymkhana’s Banquet Hall on May 2. 

The tournament, being contested by 16 teams, having been divided equally in four groups for the preliminary rounds, will be offering a record prize money of Rupees one and half million. 

The champions will be claiming a handsome purse of Rupees eight lacs while the runners-up will be collecting Rupees four lacs. Speaking on the occasion, 

Nadeem Omar, President, KCCA, and Managing Director, Omar Associates, announced that he would use his good offices for the live telecast of the knockout games of the tournament which could not yet be finalized by the organizers. 

“The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) may advise us to pay an additional charges of Rupees one million for beaming the event but we would not burden the participating teams,” he declared while questioning the logic of imposing fee for organizing club tournaments.

The KCCA President recognized that the KG Ramazan Festival, being held every year for more than three decades, has played a lead role in the promotion of T20 cricket and others took cue from them at a later stage. 

Highlighting the role of media in boosting image of the tournament, he also complimented the sponsors for having joined hands with the organizers in taking the tournament to another level. 

“Sponsors and media, besides management, play vital role and these elements are firmly behind the monumental success of the KG Ramazan Festival which has gone from strength to strength over the years,” he acknowledged.

Nadeem Omar recalled that the KG Ramazan Festival was hitting headlines even in those days when satellite channels were not there but the print media accorded it due respect and covered the matches extensively.

Tabish Javed (Master Oil), Abida Hasanali (Soneri Bank), Khalid Mani (KFC) and Irfan-ur-Rahman (Acme Technologies & Sports Intelligence) represented their respective companies in the meeting which was also attended by Abbas Saifuddin, Valika, Chairman, Tournament Committee, and Jam Nafees Ali, Honorary Secretary Cricket, Karachi Gymkhana. 

International umpire Riazuddin, who is one of the technical committee members, revealed that the PCB fee of Rupees five lacs has already been paid by the Gymkhana authorities. 

Fawad Salim Malik, President, Karachi Gymkhana, in his brief address, spoke about the monumental role of their club in support sports in general and cricket in particular over the years.

He sounded optimistic about the installation of floodlights at the Karachi Gymkhana Cricket Ground, a project that hasn’t taken off yet despite commitments by the past leaders. 

“There are indeed some security concerns involved because the club is located in the red zone. But we are trying our level best to meet the challenges and fulfill this dream of installing floodlights at our historic cricket ground,” he added.

At the end of the media briefing the KCCA President, Nadeem Omar, performed the formal inauguration of the tournament by playing a solid forward defensive stroke.

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President-elect Nadeem Omar set to take KCCA to higher level

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The President-elect of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), Nadeem Omar, has already set the ball rolling by getting in touch with the concerned quarters for implementing his plans aimed at reviving the game in a big way.

He has been elected unopposed as the KCCA President as he enjoyed overwhelming electoral support prompting his predecessor and challenger Prof Ejaz Ahmed Farooqui to withdraw his candidature the other day. 

The notification in this regard from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is being awaited and it may be delayed until polling for the slot of the KCCA Secretary is held in a few weeks. 

Nadeem Omar, a veteran sports promoter and a cricket administrator, having founded and managed successful cricket teams like Omar Associates, Omar Cricket Club and Capricorn Discount Cards, besides Quetta Gladiators, has begun his journey of transforming the KCCA into a bigger entity than it was ever before. 

The KCCA President-elect shared some of the exciting plans he has worked out to revolutionize the KCCA. He has already started making moves towards his strategic plan, covering nearly aspect of the game. 

The development of a new structure of cricket for Karachi features prominently on his agenda as he plans to have the KCCA managed as professionally as any other modern cricket association anywhere in the world. 

“First and foremost I have set the goal of reviving the KCCA Stadium in North Nazimabad. I plan to install floodlights at the ground besides improving the condition of the stadium. This would be the home of Karachi cricket,” he declared. 

“Secondly I have already spoken to the PCB to let the KCCA gets its share of space at the National Stadium where I intend to build a library and museum of Karachi cricket apart from setting up the High Performance Centre with the KCCA Academy. There are vacant spaces within the compound of the National Stadium and the KCCA is interested in using it,” Nadeem Omar disclosed. 

He has the plans for revitalizing the club cricket, with the help of its seven zones, on a war footing. He’s equally eager to launch proper cricket tournaments for schools, colleges and universities with the collaboration of the local education departments in order to engage a larger pool of students. 

“I would be interested in exposing the youngsters to matches of longer duration from an early age so that they face no problems when graduating to first-class cricket. We will have annual tournaments of three-day matches as well as T20 events,” he added. 

His plans include the development of news complexes containing a full-fledged cricket grounds where first-class matches could be played besides reviving the historic grounds like the Karachi Parsi Institute (KPI) where the legendary Hanif Muhammad played that epic knock of 499. 

Nadeem Omar emphasized on quickly developing and uploading a state-of-the-art website of the KCCA, to be updated on a daily basis, which would have details about coaches, umpires, scorers, clubs, departments, grounds, rules, women’s tournaments besides other features of general interest.

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Nadeem Omar launches presidential campaign with a bang

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Nadeee Omar, a veteran sports promoter and a cricket administrator, has begun his election campaign with a bang. He announced his programme in the presence of some of the influential and venerated cricketing personalities along with a large battery of covering media professionals at the Karachi Gymkhana on October 7.

The founder and patron of the successful cricket teams like Omar Associates, Omar Cricket Club and Capricorn Discount Cards has vowed to transform the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) into a bigger entity than the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), if elected as its President. 

With former Test cricketers, Salahuddin Ahmed, Sadiq Mohammad, Jalaluddin and Nadeem Khan sitting at the stage with him, lending obvious support to him, Nadeem Omar made a convincing presentation aimed at reviving the KCCA. His strategic plan, covering nearly aspect of the game, was lavishly praised. 

The development of a new structure of cricket for Karachi features prominently on his agenda as he plans to have the KCCA managed as professionally as any other modern cricket association anywhere in the world. 

The establishment of a multinational type of office where the KCCA could be headquartered with grace and dignity is on top in the list of his priorities as he also has the plans to take upon the task of building new infrastructures in each of the seven zones something on the lines of Recreation Centres which could house indoor cricket schools besides zonal offices. 

He spoke about revitalizing the club cricket on a war footing with the assistance of the sponsors. He has also looked eager to launch proper cricket tournaments for schools and colleges. 

Nadeem Omar’s plans included the development of complexes containing a full fledged cricket grounds where first-class matches could be played. He emphasized on quickly developing and uploading a state-of-the-art website of the KCCA, to be updated on a daily basis, which would have details about Coaches, Umpires, Scorers, Clubs, Departments, Grounds, Rules, Women’s Cricket and Tournaments besides other features of general interest. 

He also made a mention of setting up a central KCCA Academy besides launching the KCCA Annual Award function to recognize the various stakeholders besides the cricketers. 

Speaking on the Salahuddin Ahmed, while offering his support to Nadeem Omar, observed that the revival of school cricket was the key to discover the new talent. He recalled the 1950s and the 1960s when the cricketers were directly selected to the national team on the basis of Inter-School tournaments whose standard was highly competitive. 

The former KCCA chief selector reckoned that merit should not be compromised at any cost as he cited examples of the past when the teams picked up on the basis of open trials continued to perform well in the national tournaments. 

Sadiq Mohammad, a former Test left-handed opening batsman, was thoroughly appreciated of the plan presented by Nadeem Omar but he emphasized on the development of a top-class office for the KCCA in order to attract the sponsors. He also suggested for the improvement in the quality of pitches to produce fast bowlers. 

Jalaluddin, a former Test fast bowler and a highly qualified coach, felt that it’s high time to have the KCCA reformed and Nadeem Omar, in his opinion, was the right person, to take it to the next level. He urged the zonal officials to vote for him in order to bring about a change.

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