Asia Cup Cricket – A Brief History

Owais Mughal

Asia Cup Cricket tournament started in 1984 in ODI format and currently it is played alternatively both in ODI and T20I formats. So far 16 Asia Cup tournaments have been played. India has won the tournament 8 times, followed by Sri Lana 6 times and by Pakistan 2 times.

The photo above is from the first Asia Cup that was played at Sharjah Cricket Stadium from April 6-13, 1984

If we look at Runners Up then Sri Lanka has been Runners up 7 times, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India 3 times each.

And if we look at which country has played in Finals then it is Sri Lanka 13 times, India 11 times, Pakistan 5 times and Bangladesh 3 times.

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Karachi Tramway

Owais Mughal

(Last updated June 14, 2022)

There was a time when citizens of Pakistan were accustomed to seeing Trams running all over the Karachi City center. In 1905 it was actually the very first Petrol driven trams service which started in the subcontinent. It was one of the most popular means of conveyance in the city center for many decades. Today, only a handful of photos, a few landmarks and memories of Trams remain.

Trivia – The ad on the Karachi tram above reads Takandas H. Kataria Eye Wear. Mr. Kataria (1898-1966) was born in Karachi. This business is still in operation in Mumbai and Kataria Optical Factory was India’s first to manufacture eye glass frames.

If you talk to any body who has seen Karachi up to 1975, they will talk about the tramways in nostalgic terms. The network was closed down in 1975 after traffic congestion in Saddar area was causing lots of traffic accidents involving Trams. The older trams were proving difficult to maintain. What happened to the rolling stock and infrastructure is anybody’s guess. I couldn’t find any information on it. Growing up in Karachi however, I remember taking rides in Trams with my father as well as seeing the left over tram tracks which were left to rust in Saddar roads until 1980s.

Adamjee vs DJ College: Inter-Collegiate Cricket 1989

Owais Mughal

Rivalry between Karachi’s two prominent science colleges; Adamjee and Dyaram Jethmal (DJ) goes back many decades. Adamjee College was founded by ‘Pakistan Memon Educational and Welfare Society’ and inaugurated by President Ayub Khan on July 30, 1961. DJ college was founded in 1887 and is named after the famous Sindhi philanthropist, Mr. Diwan Dyaram Jethmal. Both colleges compete each other not only in academics but also in sports.

Following two photos of Adamjee College were taken by this author on April 28, 2023. The buildings now look like they have passed their prime, but the legacy of college students lives on.

Old Building

New Building

While both Adamjee and DJ colleges boast of great talent in academics and sports, DJ college gets the best of two in cricket. However, for at-least one year in 1989, Adamjee College was able to beat DJ College comprehensively. This writer had the honors of playing for Adamjee College that year.

Book Review: Once Upon a Time in Nazimabad

Owais Mughal

Very seldom one comes across a book that just by reading its title, one feels like buying it immediately and at any cost. I recently had this feeling when I read a book review in Dawn on a book titled ‘Once Upon a Time in Nazimabad‘ by M. N. Arslan

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This book talks about cricket, the cricket grounds and about a time and events which were happening right when I was there too. It felt like I’ve seen everything described in the book with my own eyes. Arslan Saheb’s and my lives crossed cricketing events and places but without us knowing each other. We saw the same games, same venues and same players. It is almost like how Ibn-e-Insha once said

hum bhi waheen maujood the

hum se bhi sab poocha kiye

That is what makes this book so special for me. It indeed feels like the book is especially written for me.

How Far Does a Honda 70 Go?

Owais Mughal

The debate of Yamaha 100 versus Honda 70 in Pakistan is probably as old as the date of Aug 14, 1947.

While I belong to the Yamaha club, I have to admit that Honda crowd is steadily increasing in number. Therefore, today I will offer an olive branch to all the Honda 70 community out there. You should also appreciate that it has taken me 20 years since I rode my first Yamaha to come around and write following lines in praise of Honda.

Honda 70’s Amphibian Qualities

This is a true story guys. The year was 1992. Karachi got hit by one of its famous monsoon rains where mother nature dumped the whole year’s rain quota within few hours – and got done with it. After few hours of rain, nothing moved in the city because the whole city had became a large pool of stagnant water and stranded humanity.

Pakistan remained at #1 spot in ICC T20I rankings for 823 days (2018-2020)

Owais Mughal

May 2, 2020

Pakistan remained at the number 1 spot in ICC T20I Championship rankings for consecutive 823 days. It reached the pinnacle point on Jan 28, 2018 and remained at the top spot till April 30, 2020 before losing out to Australia and dropping down to #4 on May 1, 2020.

This is the second time in the history of T20Is that Pakistan had reached #1 spot. The last time Pakistan had reached the top was on November 30, 2017 but then it lost it to New Zealand on Jan 3, 2018 after remaining on top for 34 days.

Let’s see when will Pakistan regain the top spot next time.

Younis Khan – 10000 runs – The highest run scorer for Pakistan in Test Cricket

Owais Mughal

Younis Khan retired from test cricket yesterday (May 14, 2017.) He completed his 10,000 runs in his 116th test match and thus became World’s 13th and first Pakistani to cross this milestone. Following is the list of top career run scorers for Pakistan in Test Cricket. Numbers in parenthesis show their World ranking in terms of highest career runs scored in test matches. Updated as of May 15, 2017.

1st (13th) Younis Khan 10099 at 52.05

2nd (16th) Javed Miandad 8832 at 52.57

3rd (17th) Inzamam ul Haque 8830 at 49.60

4th (36th) Mohd Yousuf 7530 at 52.29

5th (67th) Salim Malik 5768 at 43.69

6th (86th) Misbah-ul-Haq 5222 at 46.62

7th (91st) Zaheer Abbas 5062 at 44.79

Misbah-ul-Haq: 56 Tests as a Captain

Owais Mughal

May 15, 2017

Misbah-ul-Haq retired from test cricket yesterday on May 14, 2017 and holds the honor of captaining Pakistan in the highest number of test matches. He is also the one of the most successful captains of Pakistan in Test cricket. The criteria of following list is that anybody who has captained Pakistan in at-least 10 test matches qualifies for it. Following table is correct as of May 14, 2017 when Pakistan just won their first ever Test series with West Indies 2-1.

(M – W – L – D – W%)

1. Waqar Younis 17 – 10 – 7 – 0 – 58.82%

2. Salim Malik 12 – 7 – 3 – 2 – 58.33%

3.  Misbah-ul-Haq 56 – 26 – 19 – 11 – 46.42%

4. Wasim Akram 25 – 12 – 8 – 5 – 48.0%

Pakistan goes #1 in Test Cricket Rankings

Owais Mughal

August 22, 2016

Things may change again tomorrow but today its time to celebrate for Pakistan cricket team fans. Pakistan has reached number one spot in Test cricket rankings for the first time since ICC started the rankings system in 2003.

This is how the rankings stand today

1. Pakistan (111 ranking points)
2. India (110)
3. Australia (108)
4. England (108)
5. New Zealand (99)
6. Sri Lanka (95)
7. South Africa (92)
8. West Indies (67)
9. Bangladesh (57)
10. Zimbabwe (8)

SNGPL becomes National Cricket Championship 2017-18

Owais Mughal

Year-by-Year Tabulation of QeA Trophy Winners and Runners Up:

SNGPL beat Wapda by 103 runs to win their fourth Quaid-e-Azam trophy title in Karachi on Dec 25, 2017. This was also SNGPL’s 3rd title in 4 years.

This year it was the 62nd edition of QA trophy.

Following table gives the complete listing of years the tournament has been played and the winners and runners up of every year.

1. 1953/54: Bahawalpur (1st) and Punjab (2nd)
2. 1954/55: Karachi (1st) and Pakistan Combined Services (2nd)
3. 1956/57: Punjab (1st) and Karachi Whites (2nd)
4. 1957/58: Bahawalpur (1st) and Karachi C (2nd)
5. 1958/59: Karachi (1st) and Pakistan Combined Services (2nd)