The seven-year-old Syed Fakhar Ali Shah was standing by the television and VCR in a room filled with sports stakeholders of the country. His eyes were focused on his father, Syed Khawar Ali Shah, waiting for a signal.

His father, the then Division Sports Officer Gujranwala, was explaining the rules of baseball to the attendees by showing them a Major League Baseball (MLB) game. Fakhar’s duty was to play and pause the VCR following his father’s instructions. This was in 1992.

Earlier, this month, Pakistan faced the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) top-ranked team Japan in their opening game of the XXX BFA Asia Baseball Championship. It earned the respect of 6,000 fans witnessing the live action at the Taipei Dome in Taiwan, and thousands of fans online for their impressive show.

This praiseworthy performance in a 14-0 losing cause was not a fluke. The father-son duo of Khawar Shah and Fakhar Shah have dedicated at least three decades of their lives to this cause.

Most people are not even aware that baseball is played in Pakistan. Yet its team was ranked 21st in the world only a few years ago. A father-son duo are behind this remarkable achievement

Their story goes back 31 years when, prior to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, it was announced that baseball would be a part of the upcoming Games for the first time. Seeing the opportunity, Khawar decided to introduce this different bat and ball game in the country as Pakistan then was prospering in sports, ruling cricket, hockey, squash and snooker.

Khawar decided to host a national championship at the time and asked every athlete across the country, irrespective of the sport they played, to participate in the camps.

“We provided baseball equipment, coaches, learning videos and other assistance to all the relevant authorities of the provinces, to prepare for the national championship,” says Fakhar, who grew up to play for Pakistan.

Later, he coached the Under-12 baseball team, managed other teams and eventually became his father’s successor as the president of the Pakistan Federation Baseball (PFB) by winning the elections after his father passed away. He is also Vice-President of WBSC Asia.

“In 1992, when the federation hosted the championship, it was telecast live on PTV,” he says.

In the early days, a major issue for the PFB was that there was no equipment available locally. They needed to import everything. In the first national championship, the batters batted without helmets, and the catchers played without gloves.

Soon, Pakistan became a WBSC member. However, the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) did not recognise PFB until 2004.

“There are some conditions for the affiliation of a sports body with the POA, such as hosting the national championship, association with provincial sports bodies and others. We had it all, yet were only recognised in 2004, which didn’t go well for baseball in Pakistan,” shares Fakhar.

Ever since the PFB’s inception, Pakistan have participated in numerous international events, rising as a force to reckon with in the continent. The Pakistan baseball team have been among the top 10 in the Asian rankings for many years.

In fact, out of 80 teams, Pakistan were ranked 21 in the world in 2018, which must be surprising for many as people don’t even know that there is a baseball team of Pakistan or a functioning baseball federation in the country. However, due to non-participation in events, Pakistan lost their ranking and tumbled to 49th in the world and ninth in the continent.

“We have participated in the Asian Games three or four times, but could not participate in the last edition because the relevant authorities told us that they did not have enough funds to send the baseball team,” says Fakhar. “They wanted to spend on those teams who could win medals for the country.

“But how many medals did Pakistan win?” he continues. “We were a strong contender for a medal. Instead, the Philippines participated in the event and got 129 points, improving their position, while we lost a golden opportunity to climb up in rankings.”

Anyone who knows even a little about the state of sports in Pakistan must not be surprised to learn that a deserving player or a team is deprived of an opportunity due to the lack of funds. It is usual business in Pakistan sports.

Now, the question arises, with a history of no funds, no basic facilities, no infrastructure and no government support, how has baseball managed to thrive in the country and produce players from remote areas that stun the fans?

The answer to this would be ‘vision’.

“We were not built in a day,” says Fakhar. “We have invested years and years in our young players and they are finally delivering results, making us a prominent team in Asia and in the world.”

Khawar and Fakhar, both have worked on two strategies simultaneously, a short-term and a long-term strategy. The short-term involves as much participation in international events as possible to keep Pakistan on the map. The long-term focuses on developing players, officials and facilities for the future.

In 2000, Khawar arranged a baseball tournament for schoolchildren and this was where Pakistan found one of their prominent stars and future captain Umair Imdad Bhatti.

“A school event was organised for Under-12 kids and I participated in it at the request of Khawar Shah, my father’s friend,” Bhatti tells Eos. “It was my first baseball event and I was selected for a one-month camp,” he recalls.

“Then I played an international event in Japan, where Fakhar Shah was our coach. Since then, I have been associated with Pakistan baseball,” he adds.

PFB has five functional academies across the country, including in areas such as Swabi and Jamrud, and each of these has around 100 registered players from the ages of six to 20.

The federation provides these kids with all the equipment necessary to play the sport, along with coaching facilities and technical knowledge, all without any cost to the players. They establish facilities on lent lands and buy used equipment at thrift prices from countries such as the USA to manage the costs.

“Two to three kids from these academies make their way to the national camp every year,” says Fakhar. “We are targeting 10 academies, as we are benefitting from them, but it requires a lot of effort.”

Two of their players, Syed Muhammad Shah and Wahid Afridi, were recently recruited for the glittering Baseball United, a private baseball league in the UAE, which is a massive step in the right direction.

Moreover, Fakhar wants to develop the entire system, where they do not need a foreigner for grooming talent, training coaches or umpires.

“I have trained coaching staff by inviting foreigners here from different countries. I want Pakistan to be self-sufficient in baseball,” he states. “We requested WBSC Asia [aka BFA] to give our umpires international matches, and they did. I even want female officials to play their part in growing this game in the country.”

Bhatti, who plays for Wapda, has been associated with Pakistan baseball for the last 33 years. According to the captain himself, he is not sure how long he will be able to continue as a player, but one thing he is certain about is his involvement in the development of the sport in this region.

“I have already done a coaching course from China, and I will be coaching players after my retirement, though coaches are not paid here,” he states.

At the moment there is no earning for baseball players in the country unless they are picked by a department such as Wapda, Army or HEC.

“We cannot excel unless we are free from our worries, like taking care of family and other expenditures,” says Bhatti. “At the moment, there is no earning without a department job and as a result, a kid of a poor family cannot pursue baseball.”

However, the recruitment of two players in Baseball United and recognition of Pakistan’s baseball talent at the international stage can change the fate of the game in the country.

There is finally some light at the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel is long. Baseball players in Pakistan need at least dedicated baseball fields, basic facilities, quality equipment and some government support to challenge the top teams in the world.

The writer is a freelance sports journalist.
X: @Arslanshkh

Published in Dawn, EOS, December 17th, 2023