As many as 25,000 people gathered at Arbab Niaz Khan Stadium in Peshawar to witness a peace match between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Peace XI and Pakistan Peace XI on Sunday. The event was organised by the PTI Sports and Culture Forum and Imran Khan was the chief guest. KPK Chief Minister Pervaiz Khatak and ‘Chacha Cricket’ were also among the attendees.
Batting first, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Peace XI led by Inzamam ul Haq, scored 180 runs with a loss of 5 wickets. Salim malik was the top scorer of the side with 50 of 27 balls. Shahid Afridi took two wickets. In reply, Pakistan Peace XI led by former spinner Abdul Qadir with the help of Afridi’s 66 of just 19 balls managed to achieve the total in the 19th over. Afridi hit 9 boundaries in his innings with one six smashing the glass wall of the commentary box.
Chief guest Pakistan Tehreek-i-insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, while speaking after the T20 Peace Cricket match, announced plans to build large stadiums in all districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).
Imran Khan said that a talent hunt will be started for under 17s in K-P. He added that coaches will be hired to carry out the search in the seven agencies of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to find strong players to play in the K-P cricket team.
The Pakistan team will be made stronger by the K-P team, said Imran, adding that Shoaib Akhtar was discovered during a talent hunt.
No international cricket has been played in Pakistan since the terrorists attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009. While the last time there was an international cricket match at the Arbab Niaz Stadium Peshawar was in 2006 between Pakistan and India. After almost 8 years when PTI government took the initiative to organize a T20 cricket match here in Peshawar, the cricket fans of the province felt on top of the world.
Pakistan Peace XI:
Abdul Qadir(Captain), Shahid Afridi, Yasir Hameed, Kamran Akmal, Rana Naveed, Muhammad Irfan, Shoaib Malik, Hammad Azam, Umar Gul, Shabbir Ahmad, Nasir Jamshed, Anwar Ali, Wajahat Ullah Wasti, Rao Iftikhar, Moin Khan.
KPK Peace XI:
Inzam-ul-Haq(Captain), Imran Nazir, Ahmad Shahzad, Muhammad Yousaf, Ijaz Ahmad, Salim Malik, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Khalid Latif, Sohail Tanveer, Mushtaq Ahmad, Shoaib Akhtar, Umer Amin, Rashid Latif, Manzoor Elahi.
Sports are an active and positive way to burn away frustrations of day to day life. Reason being that sports are a disciplined way to combat them. Developing strategies for winning and most of all showing restraint after defeat leads to show sportsman spirit in it's true escense.
Imran Khan you are great- please continue the good work- May Allah bless you and support your noble work- Ameen.
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