On the pitch: MPAs slated to participate in friendly cricket match

K-P MPAs to arrive in Lahore as guests of the PA

LAHORE: A face off between lawmakers from the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assemblies is in the offing with the MPAs expected to participate in a friendly cricket contest.

“Details are still being finalised. The match will be organised next week, most likely on Tuesday. Around six provincial ministers from both sides are slated to participate in the event. KP MPAs will arrive in Lahore on the invitation of the Punjab Assembly (PA),” a lawmaker from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) told The Express Tribune.

Another MPA from the PML-N who is organising the contest said it would be nice to meet counterparts from K-P and engage them in a friendly match. “While the PML-N is in power in the Punjab, the PTI calls the shots in K-P,” he said. Both political parties routinely slug it out on the political front. But things will be much more amicable on the cricket pitch, the lawmaker said.

Another MPA cognisant of the planned match said PA Deputy Speaker Sher Ali Gorchani would hold a reception in honour of the visiting lawmakers. He said the venue of the match would be lit with floodlights. The lawmaker said MPA Mian Munir—who has been a member of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB’s) Board of Governors (BoGs)—will lead the Punjab side. Munir has also served as the manager of the Pakistan Cricket Team from 1996 to 2011, the MPA said. He said while it was not yet certain as to who would lead the K-P side, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI’s) Shaukat Ali Yousafzai was most likely to captain it.

Another lawmaker told The Express Tribune that two venues were being considered in connection with the planned exercise. He said the final venue would be divulged in a couple of days. “A few celebrities will also be invited to witness the match. Preparations are afoot to ensure that all MPAs enjoy the contest and remain entertained,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2016.