KARACHI: The Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA) celebrated its twentieth anniversary here by organising a grand reception at the Karachi Gymkhana which was attended by prominent sports personalities including players, officials, organisers and coaches.

The Sindh Governor, Muhammad Zubair, who was the chief guest at the ceremony, cut a cake to mark the occasion alongwith top PVCA functionaries Fawad Ijaz Khan, Ashiq Hussain Qureshi and Nadeem Omar.

Prominent among those who attended the gathering were former Pakistan captains Wasim Bari, Moin Khan and Younis Khan besides Test cricketers Sadiq Muhammad, Jalaluddin, Sikander Bakht, Shoaib Muhammad and Ejaz Faqih.

The PVCA recognized its deceased quartet of founder members including Bashir Ahmed, Iqbal Umar, Dr Syed Muhammad Ali Shah and Shahid Israr, and the postmothous awards were collected by their respective family members.

The PVCA founder members to have attended the ceremony were Fawad Ijaz Khan, Jalaluddin, Ejaz Faqih, Mian Azmat Hussain and Muhammad Taqi Iqbal,

Awards of appreciation were also presented to Brig (retd) Salahuddin, Mian Munir, Amer Ilyas Butt, Alamgir Ahmed and Amjad Islam Rishi among others for their continued support to the PVCA over the years.

The Sindh Governor was highly appreciative of the initiatives of the PVCA in engaging the seniors and veterans cricketers in healthy activities for far greater period than what used to be in the past. Fawad Ijaz , Chairman PVCA, in his speech, expressed the hope that the doors of international cricket for seniors in Pakistan will also open shortly with the successful hosting of the PSL and the West Indian matches recently.

Ashiq Hussain, CEO of the association, observed that the participation of 70 cities in the just concluded 19th National Seniors Cup was another testimonial of their network having become nationwide now.

Chief sponsor and owner of Quetta Gladiators Nadeem Omar also complimented the PVCA for having done a fantastic job since its inception on April 23, 1998.

Younis Khan, the former Pakistan captain and the scorer of the highest number of Test runs and centuries for the country, assured his total support to the cause of veterans cricket although he was uncertain when he will start playing it.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2018