Great chance for PIA to lift elusive Patron’s Trophy
By Our Sports Reporter
KARACHI, March 10: For a team known for its star-studded cricket status, it comes as a major surprise that PIA have never been able to lay their hands on the Patron’s Trophy in the 27 seasons when it was contested at first-class level.
By making it to the semifinals this season, PIA get another opportunity to have a tilt at the only silverware that is missing from its cupboard. Having finished runners-up thrice (1973-74, 1975-76 and 1994-95), PIA are more than desperate to make up for disappointments of all those years.
But first they have to get the better of five-time Patron’s Trophy winners National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) in the semifinal that gets under way at the National Stadium from Friday. Led by Moin Khan, the former Pakistan captain, PIA finished on top of Pool ‘A’ standings with 27 points.
National Bank, the Patron’s Trophy champions in 1974-75, 1975-76, 1978-79, 1986-87 and 2001-02, are captained by ex-Test leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed. They made a startling comeback to reach the last-four stage when Mushtaq spun them to a 53-run win over KRL in the decisive final round Pool ‘B’ fixture.
The other four-day semifinal, which begins simultaneously at the Qadhafi Stadium in Lahore, is scheduled between Pool ‘B’ champions Habib Bank, who have won this trophy a record seven times (in 1976-77, 1977-78, 1981-82, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1997-98 and 1998-99), and virtual newcomers to the domestic first-class cricket, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), who ended up as the runners-up in Pool ‘A’.
Always regarded the toughest national tournament because of the strength of the competing teams, national duty has once again rob the tournament of top stars despite the fact that a number of India-bound Pakistan tourists played in the earlier rounds.
Next week’s final, shifted from Karachi to Lahore for technical reasons, see more stars missing since Pakistan ‘A’ squad leaves for Colombo on March 16 – a day before the start of the five-day decider.
The other semifinal should be more closer affair because both Habib Bank and PTCL are evenly matched outfits. Led by Hasan Raza, who turns 23 on Friday, the bankers have history on their side. PTCL have nothing to lose on the other hand since they are only in their second season of top grade cricket.
Their squad includes two players who have been part of Patron’s Trophy winning team. Both Aamir Bashir, the PTCL skipper, and Naved Latif were members of Pakistan Customs side that won the championship in 2000-01.
