Rotary Darakhshan honours hat-trick hero Jalaluddin, statistician Shahzad Ali Khan in cricket celebration

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi 

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

With cricket fever gripping the entire world on the eve of Boxing Day and New Year, it was in the fitness of things that Rotary Club of Karachi Darakhshan joined the celebration by honouring two renowned cricket personalities, hat-trick hero Jalaluddin and statistician Shahzad Ali Khan, in a graceful ceremony at the Karachi Club Annexe on December 17. 

 Jalaluddin, a former Test fast bowler and the highest qualified coach of Pakistan, recalled the moments when he had rewritten the history in September 1982 by registering the first-ever hat-trick in One-day Internationals. 

He informed the select gathering how he was drafted in the playing eleven at the eleventh hour in place of skipper Imran Khan, who had pulled out due to the extreme heat of Hyderabad after arriving from England. 

He also shared, with mixed emotions, the immediate ‘cold-shouldering’ by the officials soon after his world record feat which prompted him to disembark from the team coach abruptly and he hired a rickshaw to quietly rush to his home in North Nazimabad. 

Jalaluddin’s untold stories were as interesting as his talk on importance of statistics and records in cricket which he highlighted the fact that television and digital coverage of the game has made fact and figures even more important than before. 

He lavishly praised Shahzad Ali Khan for having compiled the book ‘Cricket Milestones’ in which his own feat of first-ever hat-trick in One-day Internationals has also been prominently documented. 

He didn’t mince words in stating that compiling or authoring a cricket book demanded special qualities and skills as it was a very challenging pursuit which himself has also gone through lately. 

Cricket statistician Shahzad Ali Khan, in his speech, talked about his passion for the game having started in his childhood and has continued unabated for nearly half a century. He revealed how much pleasure he derives by compiling statistics and records about cricket. 

Past District Governor and Charter President of Rotary Club of Karachi Darakhshan, Jahangir Moghul, in his welcome address, praised both Jalaluddin and Shahzad, for their contributions to the game of cricket and hoped that they will continuing doing so for many more years to come. 

The Club President, Syed Khalid Mahmood, thanked both the cricket experts for squeezing time for Rotary and sharing their experiences with Rotarians, the majority of whom remain cricket followers. He wished them the best of luck in their future endeavours. 

Besides Rotarians, quite a few cricket collectors, writers, statisticians and anchors attended the ceremony thoroughly enjoying every minute of the proceedings. In the end, Jalaluddin and Shahzad Ali Khan were presented shields by the officials of Rotary Club of Karachi Darakhshan while the Club Secretary, Awais Moghul, proposed vote of thanks.