ICC Champions Trophy travels to Karachi

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The glittering ICC Champions Trophy 2017, representing one of the most prestigious global cricket events, has made a welcome stopover in Karachi during its ongoing tour across the world.

The trophy tour had kicked off on February 21 at the ICC Academy, Dubai, in a ceremony attended by Shahid Afridi, the flamboyant all-rounder and a former Pakistan captain. 

Since then the trophy has been touring different cities around the world with Karachi being its seventh stop. Its next destination would be Johannesburg, South Africa, and after visiting a few other places, it will ultimately arrive in England where the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 will get underway on June 1 with the opening match between England and Bangladesh at The Oval, London. 

The trophy landed in Karachi on March 30 and during its stay in the metropolis, it was taken to National Stadium, University of Karachi, Edhi Home, Hawke's Bay and Sindh Governor House. 

The Governor of Sindh, Mohammad Zubair, alongwith Younis Khan, a former Pakistan captain, jointly held the trophy aloft in a ceremony which was also attended by quite a few other Test cricketers and dignitaries representing the International Cricket Council (ICC), the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA). 

Iqbal Qasim, Saleem Yousuf, Shoaib Mohammad and Ejaz Faquih were the former Test cricketers in attendance at the Governor House alongwith hockey stalwarts Islahuddin Siddiqui and Wasim Feroze, and squash legend Jahangir Khan. 

Shahid Afridi, who actively took part in the various trophy events on March 30, didn’t attend the ceremony at the Governor House due to an ankle injury the following day.