Campaigning for the upcoming general elections 2013 is in
full flow in the biggest province of Pakistan where
PTI and PML-N are working
day and night to gain the clear majority to dictate the terms in other
provinces. In other provinces the campaign is yet to start due to self imposed restrictions
by the parties who have already completed their term, citing the ongoing terror
attacks. Targeted attacks on some parties and their reaction reminds me of the
childhood days, when we used to play cricket with borrowed bat and ball and the
owner of the ball and bat would get first turn on batting and bowling by
default. If he got out early he would take the ball and bat and go
home, to avoid this we had to give him the second turn and deploy our worst
bowlers to give him some batting and hence to continue the game.
Taking about cricket, the game is getting much attention and
notable mention during the political campaigning with the entry of Imran Khan.
Every day Imran Khan is making claims that he would take two or three wickets
on one ball. In turn Nawaz Sharif a passionate fan of cricket also reminds him
that he had also played cricket and he would dispatch his bouncers to boundary.
It is interesting that Nawaz Sharif is a passionate cricket lover, he used to
play club cricket in Lahore and also played one First class game against PIA in
1973. Here I want to narrate an incident to show his love for cricket, the
incident was mentioned by Imran Khan in his book Pakistan: A Personal History.
On the morning of 04th October, 1987 before a warm-up
match of cricket world cup 1987 against WI , team management got a call
from chief minister house that Mian Nawaz Sharif, then chief minister of Punjab
would be leading the team against West Indies. Imran Khan writes that he was
astonished but thought that his role in the match would be more like a spectator
watching from dressing room. But before the start of the match Mian Nawaz
Sharif appeared in the dressing room in white kit. More shocking news was yet
to come as Mian Nawaz Sharif accompanied great Vivian Richard to the ground and
tossed the coin, for a while Richard himself was himself shocked when he got to
know that it was chief minister. For making the thing more funny and shocking
he turned back to pavilion put his pads on, took a floppy hat and smiled to
Mudassar Nazar and said “are you ready to start the innings”? Imran Khan writes
“None of us could believe what we were seeing;
he (Nawaz) was going to open the innings with Mudassar Nazar against the West
Indies, one of the greatest fast-bowling attacks in cricket history. Nazar wore
batting pads, a thigh pad, chest pad, an arm guard, a helmet and reinforced
batting gloves, while Sharif simply had his batting pads, a floppy hat – and a
smile… I quickly inquired if there was an ambulance ready”
West Indies had a fearsome bowling attack those days and
were famous for breaking jaws and crushing toes, it was fortunate that Nawaz Sharif
got out first ball duck. He did not stop there and played another warm-up match
against England and fortunately got out after facing just 5 balls. After 30 years Imran Khan is desperate to do what Mian Nawaz Sharif did , lets hope he could stand up against more dangerous and deadly demons waiting for him.
