When Gavaskar was called ‘Javad Askar’ before the first Asia Cup and how an extra seat was specially made overnight for the first India-Pakistan match

By K.R. Nayar 

Ali Anwar Jafri, a former UAE domestic cricket star and joint secretary of Sharjah Cricket Council, has been a witness to everything leading to the first Asia Cup at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. He has a treasure of interesting stories since he has been a part of Sharjah Cricket for decades. 

Ali Anwar Jafri 

Before the Asia Cup was held in Sharjah and the stadium earned the honour of becoming an international cricket venue, a one-day match was held in 1981 between Gavaskar XI versus Miandad XI,  and a two-day double wicket event in 1982. The large turn-out for these matches was one of the reasons that prompted Abdulrehman Bukhatir to stage the Asia Cup in 1984 at this venue.

Sunil Gavaskar during the 1984 Asia Cup

Jafri recalled how Gavaskar was called 'Javad Askar' by an Arabic newspaper. “A leading Arabic newspaper wrote Gavaskar's name as ‘Javad Askar. In the Arabic language, there is no word starting with Gav and hence they wrote his name as 'Javad Askar'. In Sharjah there is a well-known family named Askar and they linked Gavaskar's name with this family," revealed Ali Anwar Jafri, who has seen the emergence of the Sharjah Cricket Stadium right from its inception in 1980. 

Players from the Miandad XI vs Gavaskar XI match in 1981  

Jafri, who hails from Pakistan, was a fine leg-spinner and would open the innings for Karachi University ahead of even Test star Mohsin Khan who batted one-drop.  He may have even played for Pakistan’s Combined Universities, but could not resist the call from Abdul Rehman Bukhatir who had picked him to play for the Sharjah Cricket Club. He now owns the popular AJ Sports shop. 

Young Ali Anwar Jafri with Abdulrehman Bukhatir 

“Bukhatir played and captained the Sharjah Cricket Club team, and he wanted his team to be very strong. I left Pakistan three days before the Combined University match. I enjoyed playing for Sharjah Cricket Club and we went on to win the Bukhatir League 14 times," recalls Jafri, who has also seen how Bukhatir went on to create the Sharjah Cricket Stadium and bring international cricket there. He was also involved in providing all assistance to Bukhatir during the creation of this venue.

Leg spinner Ali Anwar Jafri in action 

Jafri remembers the stadium did not have a pavilion till 1982 and that the wicket was made of cement with astro-turf on top. Recalling his days as in-charge of ticket sales for the first Asia Cup in Sharjah, he narrated how Qasim Noorani, the then President of Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS), the organisation that hosted matches in Sharjah, helped his friend during the Asia Cup. “I was in charge of ticket sales. One of my very close friends who was on his way to Pakistan from Europe wanted to watch the India-Pakistan game. Unfortunately, not a single seat was available in the stadium. Fortunately, Humayun Sumar was in charge of maintenance, and with the kind permission of Mr Noorani, he installed an extra seat in the main pavilion overnight to accommodate him.”

Ali Anwar Jafri with Salim Parvez and Javed Miandad 

Feeling nostalgic while recalling the first Asia Cup., he added, “The first Asia Cup was the start of a long journey. Unfortunately, all three matches in this event were one-sided affairs. Pakistan's performance was very disappointing. Almost the whole of the Pakistan team was from my era and I had played with or against them in Pakistan.” 

Jafri also remembers how all tickets for the matches were sold out in a flash. Since there were no online sales those days, tickets had to be bought standing in a queue before a counter. “All high-end tickets for the India-Pakistan game were sold out before the start of the event but we kept some lower stand tickets only for match day sale at the gate.”

The UAE team that played against Sri Lanka  during the first Asia Cup  

UAE’s domestic cricketers also got to play against Sri Lanka during this Asia Cup. “A UAE Select XI named as the CBFS Invitational Team played a game against Sri Lanka on April 10. The captain of our team Ram Ramesh was from Kerala, and he was a banker at the National Bank of Sharjah. Being a regular domestic cricket player, I too got to play in that match. We lost by 8 wickets after scoring 138 runs,” said Jafri. 

Ali Anwar Jafri in action against Sri Lanka 

Shahzad Altaf, who played for the UAE in the 1996 World Cup and is a renowned coach today, had also played in that match for the Select XI. The Sri Lankan team was led by Duleep Mendis and had players like Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda De Silva, Sidath Wettimuny and Roy Dias.