PVCA celebrates 20th anniversary

KARACHI: The Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA) celebrated its 20th anniversary in a befitting manner as a large contingent of cricketers and administrators attended the commemorative ceremony here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Monday evening.

Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair was the chief guest on the occasion, with former cricketers Wasim Bari, Moin Khan, Younis Khan, Sadiq Muhammad, Jalaluddin, Sikander Bakht, Shoaib Muhammad and Ejaz Faqih also in attendance.

The PVCA recognised its deceased quartet of founder members, Bashir Ahmed, Iqbal Umar, Dr Muhammad Ali Shah and Shahid Israr, and posthumous awards were collected by their family members.

The PVCA founder members who attended the ceremony were Fawad Ijaz Khan, Jalaluddin, Ejaz Faqih, Mian Azmat Hussain and Taqi Iqbal.

Awards of appreciation were presented to Brig Salahuddin, Mian Munir, Amer Ilyas Butt, Alamgir Ahmed and Amjad Islam Rishi for their continued support to the PVCA.The Sindh Governor was highly appreciative of the initiatives of the PVCA in engaging the seniors and veterans cricketers in healthy activities.

“In the years gone by, the cricketers used to bid farewell to the game they loved as soon as they retired from first-class cricket in mid or late 30s. Now they have a solid platform in the PVCA which organises dedicated events even for those having crossed the age of 60,” Zubair acknowledged.

PVCA chairman Fawad expressed the hope that the doors of international cricket for seniors in Pakistan would also open shortly.

“We are eager to bring senior teams of various countries, particularly India, here. We had three successful bilateral series with India in as many years but our efforts for revival didn’t yield results after the cancellation of a series in 2008. The recent events augur well for the revival of Indo-Pak seniors series,” he reckoned.

The PVCA chairman disclosed that Pakistan would be competing in the first-ever Over-50 World Cup to be staged in Sydney, Australia, later this year. He said he would discuss with other teams’ officials the possibility of forming an international body to govern veterans’ cricket with the blessings of the ICC.

PVCA CEO Ashiq Hussain Qureshi said that the participation of 70 cities in the 19th National Seniors Cup was another testimonial of their network having become nationwide. “We manage to run such a large tournament in which more than a 100 teams take part, not through corporate sponsorship, but through development of an indigenous culture of sports patronage hitherto non-existent in our country. We have had to work hard on changing the mindset of the people to help our cause,” he stated.

Omar Associates director Nadeem Omar complimented the PVCA for having done a fantastic job since its inception on April 23, 1998. “It’s extraordinary how they have managed to organise so many tournaments for different age groups over a period of two decades,” he said. Younis promised his total support to the cause of veterans’ cricket although he was uncertain when he would start playing it.