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Publishing books by and large is not a profit-making venture in Pakistan. Even though sports — cricket actually — has a much wider following than most areas of our national existence, when it comes to books the happenings there are not much different. With the number of great players the country has produced and the number of exciting victories it has registered in many a sport, the number of books all these players, victories and games have together produced is pathetically low. It is only the odd biography that keeps popping up every few years that adds to the volume of sports books in Pakistan.
In cricket, the Mohammad brothers, Hanif and Mushtaq, wrote their accounts and so did Fazal Mehmood and Jawed Miandad. Brigadier Atif and Anwar Ahmed Khan came up with their accounts in hockey and Islahuddin recently just joined the ranks with his. Books have also been written and published abroad on Imran Khan and Jahangir Khan. These definitely are not the sum of our produce in this arena, but they certainly represent the most of it and that says a lot about how few we have produced talent.
Against this backdrop, it is quite interesting that Pakistan's victory at the ICC World Twenty20 in England earlier this year has produced two titles in the last couple of months. Post-event hit-and-run titles are part of everyday life in the developed world, but there are no such precedents in Pakistan owing probably to the small market that it has and the miserable book-reading habits in the country. It is probably a reflection of the ground reality that both the books happen to have given almost equal importance to photographs, if not more, in order to attract the younger lot by adding value to their purchase.
Written by Faras Ghani, Champions, again is a wonderful presentation. A gifted writer, Faras also has the skill and, indeed, the eye of a photographer which has given the book a dual edge that is likely to go down well with the audience.
Based in England, he had covered the event as a journalist on a freelance assignment. This naturally gave him an opportunity to have not just a ringside view of the proceedings, but also access to team members. It is to his credit that he has been able to turn in a readable account with matching photographs. His writing style is racy enough to justify the coffee-table format as well as the format of the game he has written on short and pithy.
Second chances are rare in sport. Unimaginable especially in the shortest form of international cricket. Seldom is perpetual poor performance complemented aptly by sparks of brilliance to win matches. Seldom is an array of poor fielding displayed that continuously lets opposition off the hook followed by shattered stumps that pulls them right back. It simply belies all cricket ethos and sits against the norm.” But, as noted by the book, Pakistan team is never one to bow to ethos and adhere to norms.
After everyone had written off Pakistan, Afridi, who emerged from the shadows of a slogger, took the fight to the rivals who dare looked up and opted to stand up against him.
So pivotal was Afridi's role in the reversal of fortunes experienced by the team that it has led to a book on him alone. Edited by Asif Noorani, Boom Boom Shahid Afridi is a compilation of contributions from former Pakistan captains Zaheer Abbas and Wasim Akram, famed commentator Chishty Mujahid, Indian journalist Kishore Bhimani and columnist Saad Shafqat. Set in a mini-coffee-table format, the book, which has 70 odd pages and almost as many photographs, has covered various aspects of the enigma known to the world as Shahid Afridi.
While Boom Boom has focused on a single personality, Champions again, has taken a broader view of Twenty20 proceedings. While celebrating Pakistan's memorable victory, it does well to stress that it was memorable also because of the manner in which it came about and against all backstage and off-field controversies that surrounded the team in its preparation for the tournament and even during it.
They came with low expectations, perhaps even booked an early flight home. They started horrendously, failing to even perform. Younis (Khan) and Intikhab (Alam) shared plans that contradicted, and fouled any hopes the fans had of a decent performance by their idols. While Younis wanted stability at the top, Intikhab preferred aggression. Neither seemed to work and the experiments that the team management vociferously pointed out would lead to an improved performance landed flat, failing to make an impression.
Add to it the resignation of chief selector Abdul Qadir amid accusations and Daniel Vettori's allegations of ball-tampering and you know why it was so memorable and sweet.
Out of nowhere, against expectations and predictions, it all seemed to fall in place. Just like that. And before you could say Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas, Pakistan had qualified for the last-four, writes Faras. And as the team touched down at Lahore airport, it was not just the three weeks worth of shopping that formed the excess baggage. It was the World Cup. This is one baggage, you bet, they would love to carry every time it is on offer. And, why not?
