The cricket literature

Published February 23, 2015
LAHORE: Peter Oborne and Osman Samiuddin with Kamila Shamsie at the session on cricket books. — White Star
LAHORE: Peter Oborne and Osman Samiuddin with Kamila Shamsie at the session on cricket books. — White Star

Millions of Pakistanis have grown up cherishing the love for cricket which is not only an all-consuming passion in the country but also the proverbial unifying force. Quite paradoxically, there has been little effort to preserve records and write a history of the game that can slake the curiosity of its followers.

With this backdrop in mind, the introduction to two new books – ‘Wounded Tiger’ (Peter Oborne) and ‘The Unquiet Ones’ (Osman Samiuddin) – at the concluding day of the Lahore Literary Festival was a delight to be at. That the event coincided with the cricket World Cup (in progress in Australia and New Zealand) added colour to it and Alhamra’s almost-packed Hall 1 testified to it.

Literati Kamila Shamsie, who was the moderator, set the tone for the discussion with amusing description of the two books and introduction to the authors. “Just the other day someone asked me which of the two books should be read and I, having already gone through both, replied that cricket historians are like pace bowlers who should work in tandem…but I don’t know which of them (authors) is Wasim and which one Waqar.” Both are the works of delight, she said, describing these as “history of Pakistan through cricket.”

Take a look: Thapar sets tone for flow of ideas at LLF

Osman Samiuddin also started off with an anecdote recalling how Ayub Khan took US President Eisenhower to a match in which Pakistan made just 95 runs in the whole day and the guest got so bored that he made some remarks about the “matting wicket” the ground had. President Ayub apparently took offence and made it a point that henceforward no major ground in the country would have that kind of wicket.

“It’s quite interesting American heads would visit Pakistan only in military regimes,” remarked Oborne, who had the audience in laughter. Oborne, a political commentator and cricket lover, went on to explain why he chose Pakistan cricket in the first place to write home about. Although there were greats in Australia and the West Indies in the early days and they had their own charm, he said, cricket was a revolutionary activity in Pakistan.

He came about as someone who revels in hero-worship while paying glowing tributes to the cricketing genius of (Oval hero) Fazal Mahmood and A.H. Kardar. “Fazal Mahmood, a 19-year-old genius, was first selected for the Indian cricket team as an opening bowler and later he came to Pakistan and joined the team,” he revealed.

Asked about the “jazba” factor, Samiuddin told the audience about the personalities of the likes of Kardar who became a monumental figure and sort of a unifying force.

As the reminiscences moved on to Imran-Miandad era, especially with reference to uneasy relations between the two, Samiuddin said Imran had his own strengths and was someone who was more interested in cricket on the field and even during post-match discussions whereas Miandad was more open and had the ability to share his worries all the time. “Miandad’s power of grievance,” as an author once said. For Oborne, Miandad was a much better captain and lovable for his idiosyncrasies. He also talked about why he called leg-spin a “subversive activity” and the fact that it was obliterated in England and Abdul Qadir was the one who had reinvented the art.

The audience also thoroughly enjoyed listening to what the authors thought of Shahid Afridi. Samiuddin called Afridi “the most fascinating guy…who deserves four or five separate books.”

To a question as to why other sports have not flourished in Pakistan as much as cricket, he quipped: “Other sports, and not cricket, are responsible for lagging behind.”

The two authors also, much to the delight of the audience, shared their all-time Pakistan Cricket elevens. Before the book-signing activity, they responded to some of the questions from the audience and shared their optimism that the Pakistan cricket team had the ability to stage a comeback in the World Cup.

Published in Dawn February 23rd , 2015

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