Pakistani Lawmakers To Play In The Inaugural Inter Parliamentarians Cricket World Cup

Pakistani Lawmakers To Play In The Inaugural Inter Parliamentarians Cricket World Cup
Image Courtesy: Tanveer Shehzad

Legislators from various cricketing nations will leave for London next week to participate in the inaugural inter parliamentarians cricket world cup.

As many as 25 parliamentarians under the leadership of Makhdoom Zain Hussain Qureshi , the son of Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, will represent Pakistan in the World Cup. The contest is scheduled from July 8 to July 15 in London where ODI international world cup is already being played. Pakistani Cricket Team played its last match on July 5, 2019, to end their world cup journey.

The announcement of parliamentarians traveling to London drew criticism from various circles as the incumbent government has been citing weak economic situation and low reserves to carry out the official tasks. In times like these when new taxes have been imposed, not to forget, increasing inflation and worsening the overall economic situation, parliamentarians will leave for London to play cricket.

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Despite the criticism, government benches were of the view that such a competition is like any other international parliamentary commitment and was approved in the same manner. Parliamentarians further added that the said event will be sponsored out of their personal pockets.

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According to Dawn, a cross-party group of politicians representing England will join Pakistan, along with teams from India, New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan as well as an “All-Stars” side for the three-day tournament.

Dawn quotes British Member Parliament Chris Heaton-Harris who was behind the idea of such an event. Harris admires the game of cricket and applauds the significance of the game when it comes to bringing together politicians from the cricketing world.

“I was thinking, wouldn't it be amazing if we had a parliamentary World Cup for cricket which showcased Britain post-Brexit,” Harris told Reuters.

“Cricket has this remarkable way of relaxing people because you're sat there for hours sometimes,” Heaton-Harris said.“These are opportunities where people can come together with a mutual love of one thing and come to understand other things and build relationships. Surely that's a much better way of doing things than rhetoric and constantly having a go.”

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