The Disgraceful Snubbing Of The Legendary Imran Khan

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 19 August 2023 PCB's 'omission' of the legendary Imran Khan Niazi from its promotional video clip is not just disgraceful, it underlines the overwhelming ill-effect of politics on sports and all other fields. The man may be incarcerated by the current political regime and the Army, but can Pakistan, or for that matter the entire cricketing world, ever forget the contributions of this great cricketer? One of the greatest all rounders in the history of cricket, Imran is easily the greatest cricketer emerging from Pakistan. Pakistan lifted the World Cup trophy under his astute stewardship in 1992. Imran Khan ---- Those who've seen Imran play during his heydays will vouch for the fact that the man had something very special that distinguished him from the lesser mortals and his peers. Like the Australian greats Keith Miller, Shane Warne and West Indian legend Sir Garfield Sobers, Imran was also a flamboyant character, who gave his cent percent on the field. Who can forget his extremely fast in-dippers and banana in-swingers that ended the Test career of Gundappa Vishwanath in India's tour to Pakistan in 1982? He was simply unplayable on that tour and barring Sunil Gavaskar, all other Indian batsmen meekly capitulated. Whether playing for Pakistan, Lahore, Sussex or New South Wales in Australia, Imran's imperious presence made all the difference. He was an excellent leader, though a correspondingly failed leader in political context. He was arguably the only pacer in the history of cricket who'd applaud a good shot off his bowling. Richie Benaud, Sobers, Bishen Singh Bedi and Frank Worrell would also acknowledge and openly clap when the batsmen would hit them for fours and sixes, but they were not express bowlers. Imran was a genuine pacer and pacers are aggressive by nature. Hit them for a boundary. They may curse and abuse or at least stare at you, whether it was Lillie, Thomson, Marshall, Holding or MaCgrath. But Imran was different. Cricketers, fielders and even spectators saw him smile and applaud on the field. He used the choicest Punjabi cuss words for his players but never abused his opponents while playing cricket. Who can forget that incident when he called back 'crying' Krishnamachari Srikant when he was given out? That the same Imran changed when he jumped into the arena of politics and did all sorts of idiocy is different because politics is an altogether different ball-game. What he has done and 'achieved' as a politician is for everyone to see. He made a mess of his life. But one must never forget that he was a cricketing genius and shall remain so. I'm a bit surprised that the whole cricketing fraternity is silent over his ongoing predicament. Why is Gavaskar silent? Imran holds Sunny in high esteem and calls him (Gavaskar) his buddy. Perhaps, priorities change as one grows old. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/disgraceful-snubbing-legendary-imran-khan/d/130478 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism