'Not a Gentleman's Game': Former PCB chief Arif Abbasi unveils debut book

KARACHI: "Not a Gentleman's Game", the book highlighting administration and handling of Pakistan cricket affairs by former PCB chief Arif Ali Khan Abbasi was unveiled in Karachi on Thursday.

Squash legend Jahangir Khan formally unveiled the book at a graceful ceremony at Karachi's historic Mohatta Palace.

Former cricketing greats Nasim-ul-Ghani, Mohsin Khan, Aamir Sohail, Younis Khan, Salim Malik and others were present on the occasion.

The 268-page book explains how important the democracy is for Pakistan cricket.

“With ad-hoc in PCB, you cannot achieve desired results, without democratic set-up in the board, you cannot get backing of whole country in any of your decisions,” Abbasi told media after the launch of his book.

Shedding light on his book, he told Geo.tv that it is all about his time in cricket and the event he was personally involved in.

“I have mentioned what I believe to be an environment that needs to be created in which the game of cricket flourishes and to provide an effective infrastructure, empowering the teams to fulfill their potential,” the author explained.

Abbasi has also mentioned about how the idea of ICC match referees was perceived and how Pakistan bid to host for 1987 World Cup, without support from India, and then securing $8 million sponsorship for 1996 World Cup.

The former PCB chief added that he has only mentioned events where he was personally involved.

“I penned the events in which I was personally involved and didn’t mention much about things that had already been mentioned,” he said.