KARACHI: ‘Not a Gentleman’s Game’, the highly-anticipated autobiography of Arif Ali Khan Abbasi, the former head of the Pakistan Cricket Board and ex-chairman PIA, was finally laun­ched in a graceful ceremony at the imposing Mohatta Palace Mus­eum building here on Thursday.

An administrator par excellence — at cricket or otherwise — Abbasi enjoyed a long and distinguished association with the game in Pakistan that had more highlights than setbacks.

It is not as if, though, that his tenure (s) at the PCB was entirely a bed of roses. He did have his share of controversies and upheavals. How well he tackled them is a credit to his good governance, an orderly mind and his inimitable ways of handling people and dealing with them which won him many friends across the globe, and a few detracters.

More importantly, Abbasi enjoyed the respect of the players since he always had their welfare close to his heart. And it clearly showed. Pakistan won many laurels in Abbasi’s stints at the helm. Foreheads appeared less creased and shoulders hardly ever dropped as the national team conquered several frontiers, both at home and abroad.

It takes a bold, honest man to recognize another and Abbasi was fortunate that the legendary figure of Air Marshall Nur Khan took him under his wings early in his career to be his mentor, friend and guide. The long and cherished association of the two — in cricket, in PIA and many other vistas of life — brought the best out of Abbasi as they acknowledge each other’s abilities and enjoyed great mutual respect.

In his book, Abbasi talks at length about the dubious role of the Indian cricket officials, with Jagmohan Dalmiya being an exception, and how they tried to create hurdles in all of the Pakistan’s plans and suggestions at the ICC.

Not one to mince his words, Abbasi denounces the political interference in the game and the prevalent ad hocism which, in is opinion, has has been detrimental to the game and is, in fact, the mother of all evils afflicting the game in the country today.

His education and early days in Pakistan, the influence of his coach Major Jacob Harris, his cricketing stint with the Pakistan Combined Universities comprise a sizeable opening chapter of his book. So does his stint at the Oxford.

Abbasi is frank and hard-hitting when he talks about the various tensions and pressures he was confronted with as the head of the cricket board. He also disapproves of match-fixers — if they are found guilty — and calls for life bans against them including Mohammad Amir and others who have been allowed to comeback to the game despite their sins.

On Thursday, Abbasi’s tremendous services to the game, more remarkably his brilliance in pulling off a coup in 1983 when he snatched the Cricket World Cup from the clutches of the first world nations, his out of the box measures such as the introduction of neutral umpires and the match referees, his lead role in the formative years of the Asian Cricket Council, his camaraderie with his colleagues as well as his juniors, the upliftment of infrastructure and the stadia and other aspects were eulogised by the prominent speakers on the dais.

They included former president and chairman ICC, Ehsan Mani, the chief guest of the evening, former captain Intikhab Alam, stylish ex-opening batsman Mohsin Khan besides the mod­e­rator, ex-skipper Aamir Sohail.

While both Mohsin and Intikhab recalled Abbasi’s fine leadership skills and praised the spirit he inculcated in his colleagues at the workplace and among the players with his uncomplicated and ego-free style, Mani recollected his nearly three-decade old friendship with the author, calling him as the man of the hour who could give some direction to the radarless ship of Pakistan Cricket in these turbulent times.

“Unlike the adminstrators of the game today, who often show an increasing propensity to let matters drift, Arif Abbasi was a focused man in his job, taking quick and far reaching decisions that did Pakistan cricket a world of good,” said Mani in his tribute to the author.

Young Ali Junejo then read excerpts from the book which had captivating effect on the audience.

In his turn at the podium, though, Abbasi somewhat deprived the audience of the dramatic discourse that was, indeed, expected of him. Uttering a few words of thanks for the speakers and the tributes paid, Abbasi said he wouldn’t add much to whatever has been said of him.

But to what many took as a gesture of modesty was in fact a bout of emotion that Abbasi was overcome with at the mention of his mentor Nur Khan.

Earlier, CEO Dawn Media Group Hameed Haroon opened the proceedings by attributing his ‘sufficient’ knowledge of the game to Abbasi and their long lasting friendship.

Few eyebrows, however, were raised at Salim Malik’s conspicuous presence at the function. The former captain, who was banned for life by Justice Qayyum Commission in the year 2000 for bringing the game into disrepute, had specially flown in from Lahore for the book launch.

But Abbasi, who thwarted the Aussies’ plan back in 1994-95 to embroil Malik into a nasty bribery scam during a series in Pakistan by conducting a court inquiry to unearth the truth, have always believed that Malik was denied a fair trial by his successors.

A bevy of ex-cricketers, officials, bureaucrats and friends graced the occasion as Abbasi signed away the copies of his book which indeed makes a compelling read for one and all.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2017