Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Taimoor Masood inaugurated Sports Board Punjab’s first Cricket Academy at newly-constructed five pitches outside Punjab Stadium on Friday. The cricket academies at all Divisional Headquarters were also inaugurated online simultaneously with the launching of this academy.
Vice-Chairman Sports Board Punjab MPA Malik Nadeem Abbas Bara, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Ehsan Bhutta, Secretary Culture Asif Bilal Lodhi, Additional Secretary Malik Sanaullah, Commissioner Lahore Amir Jan, Director General Sports Punjab M Tariq Qureshi, Director Admin Syed Umair Hassan, Lahore Qalandars CEO Atif Rana, former Test cricketer Aqib Javed also graced the occasion with their presence.
Besides them, Director Sports Chand Perveen, Deputy Directors Tariq Wattoo, Rauf Bajwa, Divisional Sports Officer Tariq Khanzada, senior coach Shaista Qaiser, DSO Tanveer Shah, several national male and female cricket stars including Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Sidra Ameen, Javeria Khan, senior table tennis official Irfan Ullah Khan and dozens of male and female cricket players and other top officials also attended the launching ceremony.
Director General Sports Punjab M Tariq Qureshi highlighted different features of the academy in his detailed briefing to Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Taimoor Masood on this occasion.
Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Taimoor Masood, Vice-Chairman Sports Board Punjab MPA Malik Nadeem Abbas Bara and Commissioner Lahore Amir Jan also played cricket on this occasion.
While talking to the media, Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Taimoor Masood said that this Cricket Academy is definitely a wonderful sports facility for young and talented cricket players. “Definitely, it is a historic day when Sports Board Punjab is launching its own cricket academy. Top national coaches and trainers will impart training to young cricketers at the academy,” he informed.
Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Taimoor Masood expressed his determination that these cricket academies will produce sufficient back-up talent for the national cricket team in future. “Pakistan will get several star
cricketers from these academies in the years to come,” he expressed his anticipation.
He said Sports Board Punjab has provided a suitable platform to emerging cricket players. These academies are no less than a blessing for potential cricketers. “The young emerging players must avail these academies to polish their game under the supervision of expert coaches,” he added.
While giving briefing Director General Sports Punjab Muhammad Tariq Qureshi said that this academy is a continuation of Sports Board Punjab’s campaign to launch academies of different sports across the province. “There are 95 fully prepared cricket grounds in different cities of the province. The branches of this cricket academy will be operated at these venues,” he added.
Director General Sports Punjab M Tariq Qureshi further said that the arrangements of this academy have been completed in a short time of one and half month. “As many as 1052 male and female players were registered in just two days which is a great achievement. Top women cricketers will also train female players at the academy,” he added.
Former Test cricketer Aqib Javed on this occasion said that Sports Board Punjab’s academy has great significance as far as training of future stars is concerned. “The talented players from this academy will be further trained at Lahore Qalandars High Performance Centre and given an opportunity in PSL matches as well in future”.
Former Test cricketer Aqib Javed further said that the time is not far when this academy will produce stars like Shaheen Afridi, Fakhar Zaman and Haris Rauf in near future.