ISLAMABAD: Cricket enthusiast Shuja Khan from Khyber Agency is known among his friends as Shahid Afridi for his lofty hits but he never thought of exhibiting his talent in front of the Parliament House.

The 24-year-old arrived here along with his friends to participate in the ‘Azadi’ march. He is a fan of Imran Khan and has been staying at the site of the sit-in for the last nine days.

“We play cricket in our area but never thought of playing a match outside the Parliament House,” Khan told Dawn, adding he even never thought of coming to Islamabad.He said in the afternoon most of the participants of the sit-in go to their relatives and friends’ places but “we face problem sitting under the sizzling sun. We play cards and talk to each other and then start playing cricket to kill time.”

Another marcher, Mohammad Shahzad, 26, from Khyber Agency, said they bought a bat, ball and wickets from a nearby market and played a match with youngsters from Mansehra.

“We decided to play cricket in front of the Parliament House. After finding this new activity, we have stopped getting boredom,” he said.

Raza Khan, 21, a PTI supporter from Mansehra, said their cricket team had talented players and would teach cricketers from Khyber Agency how to swing the ball. “They are good batsmen but we have a fast bowler like Imran Khan.”

He said they played cricket till the speech of Imran Khan started. “In the afternoon, there is enough spare time but in the evening we get a lot of activity,” he said.

Most of the marchers, who have come from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and inner Punjab, were seen engaged in different activities to pass time. They also visited different picnic spots in the city.

“We visited many places in the capital,” said Safeer Ahmed, a participant from Mianwali.

“During the first few days, we stayed near Aabpara and visited Jasmine Garden and Daman-i-Koh. Today we visited Faisal Mosque and some other places,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd , 2014