Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hosted a ceremony at Pearl Continental Hotel on Thursday evening to congratulate the team upon their performances in 2011 and to encourage them for the upcoming series against England.

By Ahmed Usman & Amir Husain (7th January, 2012)

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hosted a ceremony at Pearl Continental Hotel on Thursday evening to congratulate the team upon their performances in 2011 and to encourage them for the upcoming series against England.

PCB awarded cash prize of Three Lakh (300,000) Rupees to each playing member and One Lakh (100,000) Rupees to each supporting member.

The ceremony titled “You Have Made Us Proud” also seemed to be a celebration to put behind a year when the Pakistan Cricket Team was engulfed by a litany of controversies, headlined by the spot fixing scandal.

Appreciating the efforts of the whole team PCB Chairman Muhammad Zaka Ashraf said, “The team is performing well and everybody associated with the team needs our appreciation”. Commenting upon the upcoming series against England he added , “England is wary of the Pakistan cricket team and if every team member keeps on performing this way, there is no reason why we cannot be successful”. He further offered these words of encouragement for the players “The Pakistan Cricket Board stands by you and is highly appreciative of your good performances”.

Addressing the occasion the Pakistan Cricket Team captain Misbah ul Haq said, “Discipline is the key to be consistent and this has been realized by the players and cricket management”. Speaking further about the performance of his team mates, Misbah singled out Muhammad Hafeez for his bowling, “Hafeez can bowl well whenever you give him the ball, irrespective of the situation in any match”.

Ex Pakistan Captain and TV Commentator, Ramiz Raja, also spoke on this occasion where he offered glowing tributes to the “never say die” spirit exhibited by this team, especially in light of some unfortunate events. He said that “the spot fixing controversy united the team and they have won the fans back through their performances”. With reference to the upcoming series against England in the UAE, Ramiz reminded the audience that “good performances against good teams are always remembered, after a long time I am feeling confident of the Pakistan team”.

Ramiz also commented upon some of the upcoming talent in the Pakistani team, singling out Umar Akmal and Azhar Ali as ones for whom he has high expectations.

Saeed Ajmal, Pakistan’s premier off spinner and world renowned exponent of the “doosra” also offered his thoughts on the year gone by. Commenting upon his success in 2011, Ajmal assured all present of his continued commitment to excel in this year as well.

No mention of Pakistan’s success in 2011 would be complete without the mention of the most successful all-rounder in 2011, Muhammad Hafeez. Speaking to the audience, the impressive all rounder said that when he was dropped from the team, he did a lot of hard work, “it was a learning experience for me and I tried to remove my flaws during the period”. He wholly attributed Pakistan’s impressive performance in 2011 to a splendid all round effort by the team.

While staging a comeback in the Test squad for the series against England aggressive middle order batsman, Umar Akmal admitted to his tendency to losing his wicket to rash shots and said, “I try to play according to the team plan but at times shots click and at times it doesn’t”. He thanked the PCB chairman for the reception.

For his part, Pakistan’s most senior batsman Younis Khan had words of appreciation and encouragement for his team mates “I have visited many countries and played for many teams but I haven’t seen a team like Pakistan. Despite criticism that Pakistan players can’t speak English or have discipline issues, the fact is that they are still one of the best! We should be thankful to Allah that we have found talented players in any era”.

The august ceremony was widely attended by personalities from cricket and different walks of life.

The Pakistan Cricket Team played 10 test matches, 32 ODIs and 5 T20 matches winning 6, 24 and 4 respectively. The team also improved its ranking in all three formats of the game in 2011.