Golf maestro Aslam R Khan passes away

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Aslam R Khan, acclaimed as one of the pillars of the aviation industry in Pakistan besides being a great supporter of golf, passed away in Karachi on June 19. His dedication and professionalism had made him one of the most revered personalities. 

An avid golfer, he was elected as the President of the Sindh Golf Association (SGA) and later also became the Vice President of the Pakistan Golf Federation (PGF). He was extremely popular in the golfing circles. 

He was credited to have rendered distinguished services to the game of golf in Pakistan and played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of the sport through his leadership and farsightedness. 

Beyond the golf course, Aslam R Khan, popularly known as Khan Saheb, was serving as a nominated Director and Chairman of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) board since March 2024. 

He was hailed as a corporate aviation veteran with over three decades of multi-faceted airline experience. He had started his career with Lufthansa before moving on to PIA where he held senior positions both in Pakistan and abroad. 

He held the important position of Managing Director of PIA before becoming the Chairman of its board. He also remained the Managing Director of PIA Investments Limited for 14 years, with the achievement of 700 USD successful turnaround of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, transforming it into a highly profitable asset.

readmore »»

Aqeel Memon lived and died peacefully

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Aqeel Memon, the energetic wicketkeeper-batsman of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), may have played just a handful of first-class matches in a long career but he remained extremely popular in the cricket circles due to his gentle mannerism and apolitical nature. Sadly, the gentleman-cricketer is no more. 

He had gone to sleep at his usual hours, even though it was a weekend, but couldn’t wake up the following morning on January 15. A cardiac patient, having suffered a couple of massive heart-attacks earlier, there were hardly any symptoms lately but, as a few of his close friends had realized, he was living on borrowed time. He was 63. 

My last meeting with him had taken place barely a few weeks ago. In fact, he had reconfirmed my cell number as he planned to organize a meetup of cricket friends in the presence of one of his former colleagues at PIA Sports department, Faiz-ul-Hasan, who was coming from USA. 

Aqeel stayed very close to Aziz Memon, the famed entrepreneur and social figure, who’s his cousin. He used to visit the Kings Group head office in Clifton, Karachi, regularly and it was always pleasure to talk to him on matters relating to cricket, which was very dear to his heart. 

Talking about heart, this particular organ of the body was his nemesis as well as of his entire family. His father had perished at the age of 48 due to heart failure while his elder brother breathed his last at the age of 52, also because of cardiac arrest. Despite this family history, Aqeel survived little longer probably due to his athleticism. 

Aziz Memon recalled the moments in the late 1970s when he had introduced Aqeel to the PIA officials who were conducting trials for selecting their Colts outfit, a brainchild of the legendary commentator and writer, Omer Kureishi, who worked there as Director. The PIA selectors were impressed with Aqeel’s skillset behind the stumps and he was chosen in the squad, alongwith Anil Dalpat.

“Aqeel had passion for cricket since childhood and after coming to know about the trials for PIA Colts team he sought my assistance and guidance. The great Omer Kureishi had confided to me that this lad indeed had the talent which itself was quite a compliment in my estimation,” Aziz Memon shared in a brief chat with PNFS.

Another labour of love of Aqeel was the formation of Tapal Cricket Club, which he founded in collaboration with a few like-minded of his like Amin Merchrant, who was later elected at Secretary of the Karachi Club more than one time. Tapal CC, whose primary focus was grooming talented youngsters, has remained one of the leading cricket clubs of Karachi for quite a few decades. 

A large number of Aqeel’s colleagues and contemporaries, including Shoaib Mohammad, Faisal Iqbal and Sajid Khan, have condoled his death on various social media platforms. He has been hailed as a gem of a person who was helpful and trustworthy all along. 

The compliments are so richly deserved because he lived a simple life and was never found engaged in any kind of politicking on or off the field, a rare attribute when confronted by challenges of all kinds. He didn’t believe in harming anyone and neither did he like to become a party to intrigues.

readmore »»

Hasib Ahsan ruled Pakistan cricket without heading it

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Hasib Ahsan, who expired in Karachi on March 8, was more than a former Test cricketer and an ex-chief of the national selection committee. Although he never held a top slot in the Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP), later renamed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), but for quite some time he was regarded as one of the most influential administrators of the game in the country.

   

He was believed to have called the shots during the four-year tenure of Lt General ® Safdar Butt in the 1980s when serving the BCCP as the Chairman of the selection committee. It was during this period when Hasib also became the manager of the national team for the tour of England in 1987. 

The following winter he was understood to be the man to have taken the command in his hand following the heated debate between the visiting England captain, Mike Gatting, and the veteran Pakistani umpire, Shakoor Rana, which led to the cancellation of the one day’s play of the Test match at Faisalabad. 

Hasib was not afraid to lock horns with the people he disliked for some reasons or the other. For a number of years he didn’t let go any opportunity go to settle scores with Javed Burki, accused of cutting short his international career, and Arif Ali Khan Abbasi, whom he considered guilty of shaking the confidence of Shoaib Mohammad. 

Javed, who was controversially appointed the Pakistan captain for the tour of England in 1962, reportedly hatched the conspiracy to send Hasib back before the Test in order to accommodate one of his favourites, Javed Akhtar, who was also an off-spinner. 

Hasib, who turned the ball prodigiously while playing 12 Tests for Pakistan between 1958 and 1962, couldn’t play again. His bowling action became a matter of debate and what had promised to be a long career came to an end rather abruptly. 

He, however, retained the passion and also possibly the grudge as the years went by and he came into the prominence for taking a firm stand against the all-powerful Air Marshal Nur Khan, who was also his boss at the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). 

Hasib had resigned from the post of chief selector in protest of the Air Marshal’s decision to appoint an unfit Imran Khan as captain for the demanding tour of Australia in 1983-84. 

In this period he also developed serious differences with his PIA colleague, Arif Abbasi, another blue-eyed boy of the Air Marshal, who was working as the Secretary of the BCCP. 

Air Marshal Nur Khan and Arif Abbasi were removed from the BCCP soon after the disastrous tour of Australia in early 1984 and Hasib returned with nearly absolute power in all cricket matters with the appointment of Lt General ® Safdar Butt. 

After four-year tenure Lt General ® Safdar Butt was replaced by Lt General ® Zahid Ali Akbar who brought back Arif Abbasi as Secretary. 

Hasib fought a bitter war of words with the BCCP when Shoaib Mohammad, having emerged as frontrunner for the opener’s slot with a string of high scores in the national tournaments, was ignored. 

There was a twist in the tale when Majid Khan succeeded Arif Abbasi as the PCB Chief Executive in 1996 and Hasib was in the thick of things for a while. He was held in high esteem by the subsequent chiefs of the PCB.

readmore »»

PIA revive colts cricket scheme

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), having pioneered the idea of launching the colts scheme in cricket, have now joined hands with a few other corporations in reviving the programme that had helped in discovering a number of promising youngsters who went on to become big names in the following years.

Former Test opening batsman and now head of PIA Sports Division, Shoaib Mohammad, himself a product of the colts progamme, has revealed that National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and State Life Insurance Corporation (SLIC) have also been taken on board while reviving the colts scheme.

“We have recently re-launched the PIA Cricket Colts Programme that envisions hunting, selecting, growing and developing talent for professionalism in cricketing world. We have also taken the initiative of joining hands with NBP and SLIC, asking them to take up similar programmes in their respective organizations and contribute towards the progress of sports in Pakistan,” Shoaib disclosed.

As many as 267 teenagers appeared in the recent PIA colts trials from which 50 players were shortlisted. Later a high profile selection committee comprising of Hanif Mohammad, Saleem Jaffer, Iqbal Qasim and Shoaib Mohammad, assessed the candidates for their teamwork, skills, agility, attitude and potential for future growth. The panel finalized selection of 13 colts.

The 13 youngsters selected for the PIA Colts for their two-year programme are Faraz Ali, Shayan Jahangir, Abdullah Shah, Ammad Alam Khan, Amit Ravi, Imam-ul-Haq, Mir Hamza, Zia-ul-Haq, Fawad Khan, Akhtar Kayani, Jazib Mohammad, Bilal Manzoor and Bilal Nisar.

“The programme aims to ensure getting these colts to qualify for selection at PIA and national team levels, by encouraging them to demonstrating professionalism in their skills and behaviours,” Shoaib remarked.

“It intends to achieve this aim through a four pronged strategy firstly by providing academic, communication, grooming, etiquettes and computer literacy needs of these selected colts. Then for two years train and develop them, on-the-campus, in cricketing skills, thirdly introducing a mentoring program under which legends like Hanif Mohammad, Zaheer Abbas, Wasim Akram, Shoaib Malik, Shoaib Akhtar will be invited to mentor them,” he added.

“We would assess the trainees for improvement through a PIA Cricket Colts Selection and Monitoring Committee who will identify the promising players having consistent outstanding performances. Lastly, these colts would be provided with travelling opportunities by participating in matches across the country and on foreign soils,” Shoaib said.

The initiative of PIA augers well for the future of Pakistan cricket at a time when the majority of the departments, who were so enthusiastic in the promotion and development of sports from the grassroots level, have slowly withdrawn their proactive support due to various reasons.

PIA have had the history of promoting sports in a big way over the years. Their sports department may be shrinking but their recent decision to revive the colts scheme suggests that they are still interested in associating their name with sports. The PIA Cricket Academy in Karachi is another reflection of their desire not to part ways from social service.

readmore »»