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 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)

1254 Railway Stations in Pakistan – The List

Owais Mughal

I’ve done a mini research on finding the number of railway stations in Pakistan and the number of stations I’ve found so far is 1254. I believe this number is accurate but there is a possibility of a few more stations – which are not there any more – and therefore are not included in the following list. 

The photo below is the railway line facing facade of Karachi Cantt Station. I took this photo on the morning of December 15, 2022. One can appreciate the architecture and yellow stone used in this building. This station was opened in 1898. Before getting named as Karachi Cantt, it was called Frere Road Station.

The list of stations is interesting to view, if only because you would read so many place names that you might never have heard of.

Pakistan – 2nd Spot in ICC T20I Rankings

Owais Mughal

After beating West Indies 2-0 in the T20I series the concluded on July 28, 2013, Pakistan climbed up to spot number two in ICC’s Twenty20 Championship. Pakistan held this spot for 110 days till Nov 15 when they were beaten by South Africa in a T20I match and pushed down the rankings.

Following is the snap shot of ICC ranking of T20Is as they stood on July 29, 2013.

Teams Matches Points Rating
1. Sri Lanka 18 1875 134
2. Pakistan 31 2599 124
3. India 18 1689 121
4. West Indies 22 2041 120
5. England 26 2148 113
6. South Africa 22 1795 112
7. Australia 23 1753 103
8. New Zealand 25 1937 102
9. Ireland 12 568 81
10. Bangladesh 14 739 74
11. Scotland 9 435 62
12. Zimbabwe 14 478 48
13. Netherlands 8 181 36
14. Kenya 11 309 34

Shahid Afridi 8000

Owais Mughal Shahid Afridi completed 8000 ODI runs during the 2014 World Cup He thus became 26th batsman in the World and 6th from Pak to achieve this milestone. Following is the list of all Pak batsmen with atleast 5000 runs in ODIs. The list is updated on May 11, 2015.

The number in parenthesis is their world ranking in terms of highest career runs in ODIs.

1st (6th): Inzamam-ul-Haq 11739 runs at 39.52

2nd( 12th): M Yousuf 9720 runs at 41.71

3rd (17th): Saeed Anwar 8824 runs at 39.21

4th (26th): Shahid Afridi 8064 runs at 23.57

5th (32nd): Javed Miandad 7381 runs at 41.70

6th (33rd): Younis Khan 7240 runs at 31.34

7th (34th): Salim Malik 7170 runs at 32.88

8th (42nd): Ijaz Ahmed 6564 runs at 32.33

9th (50th): Ramiz Raja 5841 runs at 32.09

10th (57th): Shoaib Malik 5490 runs at 32.67

11th (70th): Misbah-ul-Haq 5122 runs at 43.4

(12th) (73rd): Abdul Razzak 5080 runs at 29.70