Taking community cricket to children

Beating all major teams hands down, Gilgit Elevators were crowned the first champions of the first ever cricket league played here in Al Khor stadium recently.
On a huge demand from the community members, Sohni Dharti, a forum of expatriate Pakistanis living in Al Khor, organised a ‘Children Sohni Dharti Cricket League’ hotly contested by five teams named after the teams from Pakistan Super League (PSL).
“It was the first time ever that we organised a cricket league on the style of PSL for children in Al Khor here. The response has been so overwhelming that we are planning to not only continue this league but expand it in future as well,” Rana Anwar Ali, chairman of Sohni Dharti, told Community.
The league was played over almost six weeks where six teams; Lahore Qalandar, Peshawar Zalmi, Karachi Kings, Quetta Gladiators, Islamabad United and Gilgit Elevators played league matches over five weeks. The tournament was witnessed by a large crowd who flocked to the Al Khor Community Stadium in great numbers to encourage the children in the finals.
“The participating children were from the ages of 12 to 16 years and a soft tennis ball was used in the tournament. It was highly encouraging to see so many children participating. From next year, we will have to increase the number of teams,” added Ali. Team Lahore Qalandar was led by Khuzaima Amjad as team captain and team Peshwar Zalmi was led by Muhammad Muaz Ejaz. Jahangeer Vaheed captained Karachi Kings, Hanzala Shamsi led Islamabad United while Umair Arshad was the captain of Quetta Gladiators and Fawad Ahmed led team Gilgit Elevators. Chairman Rana Anwar Ali opened the tournament.
Peshawar Zalmi and Lahore Qalandar were the first to qualify for first semi-final while the second semi-final was contested between Giligit Elevators and Islamabad United. Lahore Qalandar and Giligit elevators made it to the final.
After a tense contest, Giligit Elevators won the final match and became first Sohni Dharti Cricket League Champion for the year 2016.
The tournament was organised by Sohni Dharti Executive Committee members Sabir Hussain, Choudhry Shafqat Naseem, Shahid Nadeem, Mujtaba Balloch, Liaqat Ali, Khawar Nadeem and Zeeshan Abbasi. Rana Anwar Ali handed the champions’ trophy to Gilgit Elevators while other participating teams were given prizes at a concluding ceremony.
“Sports and games are very important for children as they keep them healthy and fit. Sohni Dharti executive committee will always strive to promote the sports culture. Sports and games are means of mental and physical growth,” said Ali.
The second edition of grand Sohni Dharti Pakistan Cricket League for adults is already underway in Al Khor community ground. The six similarly named participating teams are playing the qualifying and league matches as present.
To be played over four months, the league matches of the tournament started in October and are being played between the six teams of the tournament on every Saturday of the month. The semi-finals and the grand finale will be held in January.
The tournament is designed over the format of Pakistan Super League, however, it has an additional team that comes from Gilgit, the Northern areas in Pakistan.
To spice up the cricket season, Sohni Dharti is organising a ‘Pakistani Evening’ on November 17 for Pakistani expatriate community at Al Khor. The programme will feature traditional Pakistani cuisine besides a ghazal night. “We are introducing certain Pakistani traditional dishes to Al Khor community on the occasion and there would also be music and live entertainment,” Ali said.
Famous Urdu ghazal singer from Doha Abu al-Khair will perform at the occasion. People wishing to attend the entertainment night are required to register as members after which they can purchase the nominally priced tickets to the programme. Children under four have free entry.