Andre Nel, Kalicharan, Jayasuriya hail facilities at Asghar Ali Shah Stadium

By Shehzad Owaisi

Dr. Mohammad Ali Shah gets tributes from international cricketers

KARACHI, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) October 25, 2012: International cricketers recently toured Pakistan for a couple of festival Twenty20 matches in Karachi and during their trip they freely roamed around the biggest metropolis defying all the impression in international media about security concerns in the terrorism-hit country.

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While most of the players that made the International World XI returned home after participating in the two exhibition matches on October 20 and 21 at National Stadium Karachi, former Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya, former West Indian cricketer Alvin Kalicharan, and former South African fast bowler Andre Nel stayed a little longer in Karachi.

During their stay in Karachi, the three former cricketers roamed through some of the busiest markets in the metropolis and interacted freely with their fans without having to worry about security.

Recently, Sanath Jayasuriya, Andre Nel, and Alvin Kalicharan visited Asghar Ali Shah Cricket Stadium, which is owned and run by Sindh Sports Minister Dr. Syed Mohammad Ali Shah, who accompanied the players. Administrator of his AO Clinic Nusrat Fahim and Vice Chairman of Asghar Ali Shah Sports Foundation, Dr. Syed Junaid Ali Shah, were also present on the occasion.

The foreign cricketers visited various enclosures at the Asghar Ali Shah Cricket Stadium and had but praise on their lips after visiting the hostel built for cricketers at the Stadium premises.

Talking to reporters, these cricketers said that Dr. Syed Mohammad Ali Shah is a true sports fan and his passion has helped him in coming up with such a place fully equipped with modern needs of the game.

Sanath Jayasuriya told reporters that Dr Shah has done a marvelous job by constructing and running the Asghar Ali Shah Cricket Stadium without any government help and the cricketers from Karachi can never forget his contribution for the sport.

Alvin Kalicharan said on the occasion that Dr Shah is a passionate sportsman and once he aims at doing something for the sport he achieves all of his goals.

South African fast bowler Andre Nel said that by holding the two Twenty20 matches, Dr Shah has proved to the world that Pakistan is a safe country for cricket.