Sports in Pakistan

Cricket takes pride of place in Pakistan's sports history because this was the first sport in which the newly born independent state made its debut at the international level. Early in the 1948, through the efforts of Mr. Justice. A.R. Cornelius, rightly dubbed the Father of Pakistan Cricket, the West Indies team touring India was invited for "detour” of Pakistan.

Under the leadership of the late Mian Muhammad Saeed, Pakistan made an impressive showing the first-ever unofficial Test played on the picturesque Bagh-i-Jinnah ground in Lahore. Skipper Mian Saeed scored a century in this drawn match.

Pakistan has come a long way since attaining official Test status 54 years ago. Today it is rated among the top cricket-playing countries of the world. For this she is indebted to some of the greatest players born in this part of the sub-continent.

Such world famous players as Fazal, Imtiaz, Hanif, Kardar, Saeed, Burki, Mushtaq, Asif, Zaheer, Majid, Imran, Sarfraz, Intikhab, Wasim Bari, Wasirn Raja, Miandad, Mudassar and a host of lesser luminaries played for Pakistan at the highest level and won  laurels and honours of their country. Any other team in the world which had the services of such a brilliant array and galaxy of stars in its ranks over the years deserved a much better record than was actually chronicled by the game's historians.

Golf is the only game in which Pakistan literally started from a scratch. The game was introduced and patronized in the Sub-Continent by the British. After partition a big void was created and the game might have been extinct in Pakistan had not we had a few die-hards who made an enormous effort to keep the game alive. Foremost among them were Tajuddin Salimi of PWR Club, Lahore and Rashid Habib of Karachi in West Pakistan and Maj Mohsin Ali in the East Wing. Until 1958 Lahore with its two golf clubs, the Lahore Gymkhana and PVTR Club and Tea Estate Golf Clubs in East Pakistan were the main centers of golfing activities.

In 1960, the Pakistan Golf Union was formed with Karachi, Dacca, Rawalpindi, Lahore Gymkhana and PWR as its founder members, with Chief Justice Cornelius as its first President and Rashid Habib the Vice President, Tajuddin Salimi was elected Honorary Secretary and held this office till 1965, when he became the official coach of the PGU.

Since 1971, new clubs have come up in Pakistan at places like Kharian, Jhelum, Multan, Gujranwala, Okara and Bahawalpur with Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi also developing additional Golf Courses. In Pakistan, these days clubs have affiliation with Pakistan Golf Federation and the Provincial Golf Associations. Golf membership is on the increase and about 5,000 members test their skill on these golf courses.

New youngsters have improved their game and are representing Pakistan. Sajid, Javed, Khurram Khan, lqbal Wali have the talent to match players like Taimur Hasan and other top stars like Ghias Bhatti, Faisal Quershi, Waqar Saigol and a few others. The professional players like Shafiq, Mahmood Hussain and Nazir have also been doing well in the competitions and helping in the promotion of golf in Pakistan.

Squash: The only individual sport in which Pakistan has made her presence felt at the international level is squash. Ever since her debut in 1950, Pakistan has remained among the top squash playing countries of the world. The man who put Pakistan on the squash map of the world was a stockily-built balding Pathan from Navankilli, a little village near Peshawar in the North West Frontier Province. His name was Hashim Khan, a little known professional on the wrong side of forties, impressed the Pakistan Air force officers so much that they sent him to England at their own expense. Hashim Khan descended on the squash scene in 1950 to baffle the world with his artistry, his wizardry and amazing speed on le squash court.

He went on to found a dynasty which dominated the squash world for nearly three decades. The names of such great maestros as brother Azam Khan, cousin Roshan Khan, son Sharif Khan, nephew Mohibullah, Qamar Zaman, Jahangir Khan (son of Roshan Khan) and Jansher Khan, have adorned the Squash firmament during the last thirty-odd years. This galaxy has kept the squash horizon alight with their achievements over the years. Except for a brief period when Geoff Hunt of Australia reigned supreme, till recently the supremacy has remained with Pakistan.

Billiards and Snooker

The Billiards Association of Pakistan was formed in 1958 and retired Justice H.B. Tayyabji became its first President. The first national amateur championship of Billiards was organised in 1959 and Snooker in 1960. Mr. Fakharuddin Tawawala participated in the deliberations that resulted in the formation of the World Amateur Billiards and Snooker Federation. This body is responsible for the organisation of the World Amateur Championship of Billiards and Snooker.

Pakistan, by a unanimous vote, was entrusted the responsibilities of organizing the second World Amateur Championship in 1965. But due to war with India, she could stage it in 1966.

National champions of England, Scotland, Ceylon and Australia also participated in that championship. The increasing popularity of billiards and snooker prompted the organisers to revive the association in 1979. Three more national amateur billiards and snooker championships have been organized since then, with the last one seeing as many as 11)4 entrants including a female.

Hockey was the second team game in which Pakistan made its international debut. A team led by the late Ali lqtedar Shah Dara represented Pakistan in the first Post-War Olympic Hockey Tournament held in London in 1948. Pakistan lost in the play-off for the bronze medal between the losing semifinalists. The same fate met the Pakistan team led by fullback Niaz Khan in the 1952 Olympic Hockey Tournament in Helsinki.

The failure to win even a bronze medal in two successive Olympic contests made the hockey organisers in Pakistan put on their thinking caps. An inquiry committee was set up by the authorities in Pakistan with a senior ICS Officer, Riazuddin Ahmed, as the Convener. The mandate of this probe body was to analyze the cause of the failures in the past and, if possible, to suggest ways and means to improve the game and bring it up to the required international standard. The findings of the inquiry Committee were embodied in a report which came to be regarded as the Blueprint of Pakistan Hockey in the years that followed. The proposals in the said Report were implemented and followed with religious dedication. This resulted in Pakistan defying the jinx and reaching the final of the 1956 Olympic Hockey Tournament in Melbourne (Australia).

Although Pakistan won only the silver medal, she had achieved international recognition as a serious challenger to India's supremacy as the world leaders in the game. Thereafter Pakistan never looked back and went from strength to strength, setting up new records and milestones enroute to the top.

During the past fifty years of her history as an independent sovereign state, Pakistan has remained among the top four hockey playing nations of the world. In fact, her record in the four major contests of the world (World Cup, Olympic Games and Asian Games & Champions Trophy) has not even been equaled leave alone surpassed.