Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa hosts a reception in honor winner of the ICC champions’ trophy team
By.Asghar Ali Mubarak
Islamabad–The Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa hosts a reception in honour of the ICC champions’ trophy winner Pakistani cricket team at GHQ Rawalpindi.Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa congratulates the ICC champions’ trophy winner Pakistani cricket team .The reception was hosted by the army chief.The ceremony was organised today a day after Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif hosted a reception and honored the players with medals and souvenirs.Pakistan team had outplayed India on June 18 at the Oval to bring home country’s maiden Champions Trophy.The Senate Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Senator Sardar Muhammad Azam Khan Musakhel, Senator Saud Majeed, Senator Liaqat Khan Tarakai and other recommend areception in honour of the ICC champions’ trophy winner Pakistani cricket team on 10th July .Chairman Senate and Speaker National Assembly will host and attend the reception in honour of the members of Pakistan’s ICC Champions Trophy winning squad. IPC Committee Chairman, Senator Mushahid Ullah Khan and members Senator Sardar Muhammad Azam Khan Musakhel, Senator Saud Majeed, Senator Liaqat Khan Tarakai and other stated in a meeting that“National team’s win in Champions Trophy is a gift for Eid to the whole Pakistani nation,” they said Pakistan cricket team had given great news to the nation to cheer for.Earlier the Pakistani Prime Minister hosted a reception for members of the victorious team that won the Champions Trophy by defeating the arch-rivals India by 180 runs.Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hosted a grand reception in Islamabad in honour of the national cricket team that made history by defeating India in the final of ICC Champions Trophy at Oval.The event was attended, among others, by Leader of the House in the Senate Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, members of the Federal Cabinet and officials of PCB.Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister spoke high of the marvelous performance of the team and held out an assurance that his Government would do utmost for promotion of sports in the country.He said Pakistan Cricket team has made the nation proud by winning the ICC Champions Trophy.He referred to the scarcity of playgrounds and assured that playgrounds with allied facilities would be constructed at all the union councils to offer facilities to the young budding players.The Prime Minister said Pakistan had its self respect and advised Najam Sethi not to beg any foreign team to come and play in the country.Expressing his confidence, he said time was not far off when all the international cricket teams would line up to play with Pakistan team at its homeland.Nawaz Sharif likened Pakistan’s cricket team’s initial performance with the situation in Pakistan when he assumed power. He said with the prudent policies of the government and resolve of the nation, backbone of terrorists has been broken. The Prime Minister said economy of the country has been turned around, thousands of miles of roads and highways are being constructed across the country. He said it was government’s untiring efforts that power plants are being completed in the country at a fast pace to cope with electricity shortage.Speaking on the occasion, Chairman Pakistan Super League Najam Sethi thanked the Prime Minister for his unflinching support to revive Pakistani cricket.He said that he was tasked to give a democratic constitution to the Pakistan Cricket Board, bring international best practices to the Pakistan cricket, and to revive international cricket in the country. Najam Sethi said these objectives have been achieved with the full support from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He said PSL final held in Lahore gave a message to the world that Pakistan is a peaceful country, where international events can be held without any problem.Speaking on the occasion, Chairman PCB Shahryar Khan announced that Sarfraz Ahmed will also lead the test team of Pakistan. Sarfraz Ahmed is already leading Pakistan in T20 and ODI format.Speaking at reception hosted by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for members of the victorious team that won the ICC Champions Trophy in England, Khan said there was no one better to lead the Test side than Sarfraz,new Test captain Sarfraz Ahmed stated that “I will do my best to lift the team in all three formats and will not rest on Champions Trophy laurels.”Pakistan team’s Test captaincy became vacant after Misbah-ul-Haq decided to retire at the end of the West Indies tour in May. Misbah was the captain from late 2010 onward and was the most successful Test captain in Pakistan’s cricket history.
Sarfraz has now earned the honor of being Pakistan’s captain in all three formats of the game.The diminutive player who is 30 has already appeared in 36 Tests, 75 ODIs and 36 T20 internationals.
While players have received cash rewards and cars, the cash prize that they were supposed to get from the government has hit a legal roadblock.Khan said that Pakistan had shown with their performance in the Champions Trophy that they were among the best in the world.
“We beat the top teams in the world to become champions. Our players are champions material. All the top teams now want to play with us. I tell India to also start playing with us. I challenge them to play with our team,” Khan said.Pakistan easily lost their opening group game against India but made a strong comeback with fast bowler Hasan Ali and opening batsman Fakhar Zaman playing pivotal roles.
Ali took 13 wickets in the tournament and Zaman scored two half-centuries and a century in the final. Pakistan went on to beat South Africa and Sri Lanka in the remaining two group matches before humiliating title favorite England in the semifinals.After the Prime Minister announced that players will be awarded the cash prize for their win, it was challenged in the Islamabad High Court.Advocate Tariq Asad has challenged the decision of Prime Minister in which he has sanctioned Rs 215 million as the award to Pakistan cricket team and support staff for their win in Champions Trophy.Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif‘s sanctioning of Rs. 215 million in rewards for the Pakistan cricket team post winning the Champions Trophy has been questioned by the Islamabad High Court (IHC). In a petition filed by advocate Tariq Asad, the court asked for comments from the Prime Minister’s Secretariat against the reward announcement and to explain the law under which such rewards can be justified. Under the delighted announcement by the Prime Minister, each of the 15 players of the national team will be rewarded Rs. 10 million while each of the 13 members of the team management will be given Rs. 5 million in addition to their monthly salaries .The petitioner’s main concern seemed the distribution of public funds in an extravagant manner. He appreciated the historical win of the cricket team and agreed on a tribute to be paid to them. He, however, criticized the move, saying the huge amount as reward is not in accordance to the law and it should rather be unilised for public welfare and to supply basic amenities to the common people. He said the players and squad members get sufficient match money, funds from other resources, salaries and benefits for playing first class cricket for various departments and have contracts with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), making their normal income “over and above a 22-grade officer.The Prime Minister had already handed the reward money to the cricket team despite the petitioner’s request to the court to stay the reward ceremony. In the hearing on Tuesday, the federal government’s counsel, deputy attorney general Raja Khalid Mehmood said Article 78 to 87 of the Constitution were related to the budget, grants and supplementary grants allowing the prime minister to announce cash awards among other grants. Pakistan PM announces cash reward of 10m each for ICC Champions Trophy 2017 winners.
Justifying the action, Mehmood said funds allocated for the Prime Minister’s Office could also be used in such situations. Pakistan won their maiden ICC Champions Trophy title after thrashing India by a huge margin of 180 runs in the finals played at The Oval in London on June 18.On this occasion, the Prime Minister gave away prizes and awards to the members of the national cricket team.It was the first meeting between Champions Trophy winning squad and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.Ahmed Shehzad, who was in Pakistan’s playing XI which lost their tournament opener by 124 runs, shared a photo on social media and wrote, “Honored to meet our Government officials today.lots of appreciation 4 every 1 sp the new players n what a humble speech by the PM.”Despite, not able to play cricket at home and starting the tournament from the eighth position, Pakistan team defied all the odds and clinched their maiden Champions Trophy title.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s speedster Wahab Riaz shared a photo on Instagram where the entire team was clicked.