Pakistan grows a baseball team from its home soil
The opening match will be against the higher-ranked Brazil team
The Pakistani team left the field after its workout on Tuesday at MCU Park in Brooklyn. Pakistan fields no players born or raised in the United States. PHOTO: NEW YORK TIMES
The Pakistani national baseball team reached the United States on Tuesday for World Baseball Classic qualifiers, slated to begin on Thursday.
“It’s like going from black-and-white to colour,” third baseman Zubair Nawaz said, speaking through his interpreter and team manager Syed Fakhar Shah. “I’m a third baseman, but my favourite is Derek Jeter,” said Nawaz, 26, who dreams of becoming a major leaguer. “And the Yankees, of course,” he added.
Foreign coach to train baseball team
The founder of Pakistani baseball Syed Khawar Shah is also the secretary of Pakistan Federation Baseball and the father of the national team manager Fakhar Shah. Khawar brought baseball to Pakistan in 1992, hoping to participate in what was — and will be, again, in 2020 — an Olympic sport.
Baseball teams were established across all four Pakistani provinces, with a championship tournament aired on a major television network. While cricket remains the most popular sport in Pakistan, Fakhar insisted that baseball was competing with field hockey in terms of fan interest.
However, political and economic issues bring forth many challenges for baseball players in the country. Limited finances and no real baseball stadiums in Pakistan for instance, have led many players to start training on one of the two fields at the United States embassy.
West Asian Baseball Cup: PFB lands hosting rights
Participating in international tournaments is also a problem for the team due to visa issues. For the World Baseball Classic, only 24 of the 29 Pakistani players arrived on Tuesday. But the others are expected to join them on Wednesday. Moreover, the Pakistani team might have to tackle the delicate subject of having to compete with Israel in the tournament, even though Pakistan does not ban completion with the Jewish state, unlike Iran.
“There are really just two countries in the world founded on religion, Pakistan and Israel,” Fakhar, who is a dual citizen of Pakistan and the United States and lives much of the year in Danville, said. “We are trying to keep this low. For us, it’s a game, and we feel positive about it. Major League Baseball is doing a good thing, bringing countries together.”
Pakistan to mark first appearance in World Baseball Classic
“I’m the most apolitical person in the world,” he said. “Playing Pakistan for me would be no different than managing in the Cal League, or any other game.” Fakhar is proud that his team comprises native-born players.
The World Baseball Classic, unlike the Olympics, does not require athletes to be passport-holding citizens of the nation they play for. Instead, they must merely meet the standards that would be required of them to apply for citizenship.
The opening match will be against the higher-ranked Brazil team; but according to Fakhar, “It’s not about the winning and losing, it’s about the learning.”
This article originally appeared on the New York Times, a partner of The Express Tribune.
“It’s like going from black-and-white to colour,” third baseman Zubair Nawaz said, speaking through his interpreter and team manager Syed Fakhar Shah. “I’m a third baseman, but my favourite is Derek Jeter,” said Nawaz, 26, who dreams of becoming a major leaguer. “And the Yankees, of course,” he added.
Foreign coach to train baseball team
The founder of Pakistani baseball Syed Khawar Shah is also the secretary of Pakistan Federation Baseball and the father of the national team manager Fakhar Shah. Khawar brought baseball to Pakistan in 1992, hoping to participate in what was — and will be, again, in 2020 — an Olympic sport.
Baseball teams were established across all four Pakistani provinces, with a championship tournament aired on a major television network. While cricket remains the most popular sport in Pakistan, Fakhar insisted that baseball was competing with field hockey in terms of fan interest.
However, political and economic issues bring forth many challenges for baseball players in the country. Limited finances and no real baseball stadiums in Pakistan for instance, have led many players to start training on one of the two fields at the United States embassy.
West Asian Baseball Cup: PFB lands hosting rights
Participating in international tournaments is also a problem for the team due to visa issues. For the World Baseball Classic, only 24 of the 29 Pakistani players arrived on Tuesday. But the others are expected to join them on Wednesday. Moreover, the Pakistani team might have to tackle the delicate subject of having to compete with Israel in the tournament, even though Pakistan does not ban completion with the Jewish state, unlike Iran.
“There are really just two countries in the world founded on religion, Pakistan and Israel,” Fakhar, who is a dual citizen of Pakistan and the United States and lives much of the year in Danville, said. “We are trying to keep this low. For us, it’s a game, and we feel positive about it. Major League Baseball is doing a good thing, bringing countries together.”
Pakistan to mark first appearance in World Baseball Classic
“I’m the most apolitical person in the world,” he said. “Playing Pakistan for me would be no different than managing in the Cal League, or any other game.” Fakhar is proud that his team comprises native-born players.
The World Baseball Classic, unlike the Olympics, does not require athletes to be passport-holding citizens of the nation they play for. Instead, they must merely meet the standards that would be required of them to apply for citizenship.
The opening match will be against the higher-ranked Brazil team; but according to Fakhar, “It’s not about the winning and losing, it’s about the learning.”
This article originally appeared on the New York Times, a partner of The Express Tribune.