KCCA's contribution to Pakistan cricket cited

Karachi, Jan 7: The Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) in a statement issued here on Friday said that the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board ad hoc committee, Lt-Gen Tauqir Zia, was misled by some people regarding the contribution of Karachi to Pakistan cricket.

While addressing a press briefing at the National Stadium on Tuesday, Lt-Gen Tauqir Zia expressed his unhappiness at the state of affairs in KCCA and pointed out the last player to play

Test cricket from this city was current Pakistan vice-captain Moin Khan.

The KCCA statement, which has been released to the media by its president Nusrat Azeem, has clarified that no less than nine players went onto represent the country in Test matches since Moin made his debut in 1990-91.

Rashid Latif, Basit Ali, Nadeem Khan, Shadab Kabir, Ali Naqvi, Aza Khan, Ali Hussain Rizvi, Hasan Raza and Shahid Khan Afridi have all played Test cricket from Karachi since then. It was another matter that most of these individuals did not get more opportunities to play international cricket.

The KCCA also reminded the PCB chairman that the association had won the premier national championship on 11 occasions in the last 16 years. In the same period, the KCCA junior string clinched the Under-19 championship 10 times.

The above-mentioned facts are clear evidence of talent produced by the KCCA despite the fact that there is acute dearth of proper cricket grounds in the city. Let's not forget that inspite of civil disturbance in the city, the KCCA had managed to sustain regular activities in the shape of local tournaments to encourage youngsters to get involved in the game instead of indulging in some form of criminal activities.

The PCB, on the other hand, had always given cold shoulder to the biggest nursery of cricket in the sub-continent by not providing them with proper training facilities to groom youngsters for the future who could become asset to Pakistan cricket.