KARACHI: Habib Bank Limited (HBL) — the title sponsor of the Pakistan Super League — has closed down its most significant sporting identity by scrapping the department’s cricket team.

The closure, which had been looming on the horizon for quite a number of years - particularly after it was privatised in 2003 - came about on March 31 when the top management decided against renewing the contracts of 26 players and six support staff members, including head coach and former Pakistan paceman of the 1980s, Saleem Jaffer.

According to sources, the inevitable winding up of the last of bank’s sports teams - after HBL had already dismantled other sports teams of hockey, football, table tennis, volleyball, badminton, basketball, golf, rowing — was not linked to planned moves by the current government to regionalise cricket full-time by abolishing departmental cricket altogether from the first-class structure.

The sources further said the bank had to provide a budget of Rs100 million or thereabout just to run the cricket team every financial year. However, despite their cricket team now done and dusted, the bank will continue to invest in the PSL in the larger interest of cricket in Pakistan.

Historically regarded as the most successful domestic cricket team which won countless first-class and one-day trophies, be it the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, the Patron’s Trophy (which was played under several other names) and the Wills Cup (also renamed a couple of times with the induction of new sponsors), HBL completed a grand double in the 2018-19 season with Saleem and sports in-charge Sohail Mazhar playing a pivotal role.

It is an irony though that while the cricket squad had been demolished, the bank will continue to be the title sponsor of the PSL for the next two years after inking a fresh three-year deal worth more than $12 million last year.

The HBL cricket team was formed way back in 1975 just a few after the bank had set up a sports division with veteran pro Abdul Raqeeb — who toured India with the Asif Iqbal-led Pakistan side in 1979-80 as the backup slow left-armer behind Iqbal Qasim — being entrusted with the responsibility of running the team.

“It was A.R. Wadiwalla [who was a senior executive at HBL at the time] who was the pioneer behind setting up of the sports division in our bank as part of the government policy of encouraging sportspersons and providing them employment opportunities,” Raqeeb told Dawn on Wednesday. “From then on we gradually inherited great teams not just in cricket but also hockey, football, basketball, table tennis, volleyball and badminton. There were times when we were the national champions simultaneously in several disciplines and one could name the star players [of these teams] on fingertips because they also served Pakistan internationally with distinction. Moreover, HBL remained the national table tennis champions for about 18 to 19 years on the trot.”

Raqeeb, who headed the HBL sports department for many years, said the upheaval over department cricket teams being scrapped was not surprising.

“We used to hear the same thing over and over again when Tauqir Zia [then a serving general who was the Corps Commander of Mangla] came in as the PCB chairman in late 1999. Then there were words spread that department teams shouldn’t be competing at the top level, and we took up the matter with him to make sure the departments play their role in Pakistan cricket,” Raqeeb reminisced. “But the scenario now is different. Look UBL closed down its team last year and now HBL has done the same. Don’t be surprised when we hear of more departmental teams closing down.”

While recalling HBL’s outstanding track record over the past 44 years, Raqeeb observed it was a privilege to see a number of brilliant cricketers donning the bank’s colours for many a season.

“Javed Miandad made his Test debut after joining HBL who already had Liaquat Ali and Agha Zahid on the payroll. And then our team was blessed with an impressive group of players in different phases with most of them playing for the country. Abdul Qadir, Mohsin Khan, Azhar Khan, Arshad Pervez, Sultan Rana, Masood Iqbal, Zaheer Ahmed Sheikh [who came close to be picked for Pakistan] were followed by the likes of Aamir Sohail, Saleem Elahi, Kabir Khan, Hasan Raza, Naved Anjum etc,” Raqeeb reminded. “And then came the generation of Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Umar Gul, Ahmed Shehzad, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Faheem Ashraf and most recently Umar Akmal and Abid Ali.”

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2019