The streets of Karachi carry a notorious reputation. Some reputes — fussball’s, for example — are tarnished by association.

‘A game of gangsters.’

‘A game where betting takes place.’

‘A game that will lead to moral corruption.’

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” asserts Waseem Siddiqui, who has a Master’s in Business Administration, as he waves away the criticisms levelled at the game. “There is absolutely nothing wrong in playing this game.”

Waseem and his partner, software engineer Saad Mohammad Sheikh, are a legendary duo on the fussball circuit in Karachi. In local parlance, fussball, which is simply German for football, is known as “patti” — a reference to the rods that hold the fussmen (“guddas”) on the table. The duo has spent the last 12 years playing fussball on the streets of Shah Faisal Colony without letting the game disturb their academic or professional lives.

Any game played on the streets of Karachi is a test of nerves. Only the strong-willed prevail

“Fussball carries a negative perception only in Pakistan, probably because of the localities where it is played — often areas where the poor live,” argues Waseem. “Sometimes, it might be because of the fights that break out at games or the betting that goes on at some venues.”

And yet, the duo have largely steered clear of the indulgences involved in the sport. Their talents were honed on the street, their reputation as a deadly duo too has been crafted on the street, and both remain adamant that fussball is among the healthiest activities happening on the streets of Karachi.

Vastly popular in the city’s old neighbourhoods — Lyari, Korangi and Saddar — fussball is slowly expanding into middle-class areas and neighbourhoods of the city too. But it is the old neighbourhoods that throw up new legends of the game every now and then. These localities also play host to the biggest patti tournaments organised in the city with up to 20 teams competing against each other.

The entry fee for events ranges from 500 rupees and above. Tournaments tend to have a knockout format where the contests are set by draw and each contest is a best-of-three. Teams keep winning to keep progressing in the tournament and eventually the best two teams play the final. The prize money can be 20,000 rupees or more for a winning campaign.

A game normally takes 10 to 15 minutes to conclude. If both teams are highly skilled, then it can stretch up to 20-25 minutes. Single players also play this sport but, fundamentally, this is a team game. A team of two ordinary players can be lethal if they have good understanding, whereas two classy players will not be effective if they do not know each other’s game.

“Fussball is a deadly game, it demands everything of you — concentration, coordination, intelligence,” says Saad. “When you are giving so much to something, when decisions are being made in nanoseconds, the smallest of things can cause a fight between the closest of friends. And these fights can get serious, and I mean really serious!”

Usually a game has a match point on 10 goals. However, if there is a tie on 10-10, then it is a deuce similar to tennis or badminton and the score is reduced to seven goals each. The deuce in patti is known as a ‘patti band.’ In different parts of the city, the number of goals as the match point varies: in Saddar, a game is based on 15 goals, whereas in Bahadurabad, a game carries on till 25 goals. In some areas, “dabba” — a situation where the ball comes back in play after going in the goal — is used to separate two teams. There are two interpretations of the dabba rule: in some areas, it is counted as a goal while in other localities, it isn’t and the game carries on.

The Waseem-Saad duo is so dangerous because of the understanding they have. “I know that Saad hits powerful strokes from defence and I have to be ready to take the rebound, we have scored dozens of goals on rebound I know the exact timing when he will play which shot,” says Waseem. “Reflections and rebounds are extremely important in this game, probably the most important aspect of fussball. It is a very pacey game, you do not get a chance to communicate or see each other, you have to synchronize yourself with what is happening around you.

There are three styles of playing this game. The first is called ‘first time play’ in which players are not allowed to stop the ball. The ‘second time play’ style allows players to stop the ball but not to hold on to it for too long. And then there is ‘freestyle play’ which has no limit, you can hold the ball to make a move or you can keep playing without stopping. The style of play is defined before the start of the game. Usually, top-notch players such as Waseem and Saad play freestyle fussball.

Skill is a big part of the game but so, too, are mind-games.

Saad reveals that in order to have an upper hand on the opponent, a team needs to control the speed of the game. “If we feel that the opponents are not that good then we start a game in top gear, play really fast and get on their nerves before they have time to settle. If we see that the opponents are comfortable playing fast, then we slow down the game, hold the ball, and disturb their momentum. Frustrating them mentally helps us to control the game.”

Sometimes players deceive their opponents by not showing their full potential at the start and allow them to get an upper hand in the beginning of the game. Saad reveals that the duo too has a cunning strategy of their own — designed to create false hope in their opponent and to assess their playing level.

“Waseem plays very well as an attacker. I am good as a defender. But sometimes, we start the other way around: I attack and Waseem defends,” discloses Saad. “It makes us look slightly below par and induces confidence and complacency in our opponents. When we observe that our opponents have gotten comfortable at this level, we switch to our natural positions and change the complexion of the game. By the time they realise what has gone wrong, we are close to a win.”

Similar to any other sport of the world, there is considerable advantage when playing patti on home turf. At home, players get familiar tables with which they are comfortable, they know the angles, the edges of their guddas and the smoothness of the rods. Crowd support plays a huge role too: “When you are playing in your locality, the audience cheers for you. When you visit another locality, the crowd turns on you and that can disturb your game.”

In what Waseem and Saad call their most memorable match, played in an arena in Bahadurabad, the duo had no support. What made matters worse was that they were struggling to match the pace of the table as their opponents controlled the game.

“We challenged a team that was beating everyone. The table there was really nice. It was old but very well maintained,” narrates Waseem. “They had a lead of five goals, and when they reached 10 goals, we thought we had lost.”

Fortunately for them, they were informed that it’s a 25-goal round.

“At that moment, we said: ‘Oh we have a long way to go’. Afterwards, we scored goal after goal and defeated them by 25:17. In patti, you can substitute players as many times as you like with the consent of your opponent. They substituted three players but still could not win the contest. When we finally looked up after winning the game, there were around 100 people around us in a circle seeing our game. It was an intense contest,” Waseem says proudly.

The writer tweets @ArslanShkh

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, January 29th, 2017