A poet and three heroes

He wrote ‘Sare Jahan Se Achcha’, is credited with coming up with the idea of a separate state for Indian Muslims, and has a Test venue named in his honour. The Encyclopedia Britannica called him "the greatest Urdu poet of the century." Allama Muhammad Iqbal was a versatile man.

The Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad is probably one of the few cricketing venues named after a poet. It’s smaller than the Gaddafi and a more open sort. The press box is open as well – a good thing for one keen on soaking in the atmosphere, a bad thing during inclement weather. Like the Gaddafi, the stands are split into various enclosures, all named after famous cricketers. Wait. Not all, but most.

At one square of the pitch are three enclosures that make you wrack your brains, named after Shahid Nazir, Taslim Arif and Ijaz Ahmed jnr. In one way or another, all three were associated with Faisalabad. The first, a local lad, played eight Tests between 1996 and 1999, has managed more than 100 first-class games and often found himself on the fringes of national selection.

The second, Arif, played two fewer Tests, between January and December 1980, and cracked 210 not out at Faisalabad, the highest score by a wicketkeeper at the time.

The third, Ijaz, another local boy, played just two Tests, both in September 1995 and went on to become a bully of domestic attacks. Ijaz’s second and last Test was at Faisalabad, where he fell for 16 and 8, but he still finds his name among some of the giants of Pakistani cricket. Poetic justice it seems.