PVCA celebrates its 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 late Monday evening.

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

The chief guest, along with the top PVCA functionaries, Fawad Ijaz Khan, Ashiq Hussain Qureshi and Nadeem Omar, cut a cake to mark the occasion. The PVCA was born at same venue exactly 20 years ago.

The PVCA formally recognised its deceased quartet of founder members, Bashir Ahmed, Iqbal Umar, Dr Syed Muhammad Ali Shah and Shahid Israr, and the postmothous awards were collected by their respective family members.The PVCA founder members to have attended the ceremony were Fawad Ijaz Khan, Jalaluddin, Ejaz Faqih, Mian Azmat Hussain and Taqi Iqbal,

Awards of appreciation were also presented to Brig (retd) Salahuddin, Mian Munir, Amer Ilyas Butt, Alamgir Ahmed and Amjad Islam Rishi among others for their continued support to the PVCA over the years.

The Sindh Governor was highly appreciative of the initiatives of the PVCA in engaging the seniors and veterans cricketers in healthy activities for far greater period than what used to be in the past.

Fawad Ijaz Khan, Chairman, PVCA, in his speech, expressed the hope that the doors of international cricket for seniors in Pakistan will also open shortly with the successful hosting of the PSL and the West Indian matches recently.

Ashiq Hussain Qureshi, CEO, PVCA, observed that the participation of 70 cities in the just concluded 19th National Seniors Cup was another testimonial of their network having become nationwide now.

“What is more heartening is the fact that 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. Nadeem Omar, Director, Omar Associates, complimented the PVCA for having done da fantastic job since its inception on April 23, 1998. and they merit greater recognition,” he noted.

Younis Khan, a former Pakistan captain and the scorer of the highest number of Test runs and centuries for the country, assured his totalsupport to the cause of veterans cricket although he was uncertain when he will start playing it.