Zalmi owner Javed wants to bring big time cricket back to Pakistan

Dubai - Peshawar owner says emergence of the PSL is the best thing that happened to Pakistan cricket

Javed Afridi is a man with a mission to bring big time cricket back on Pakistan's soil.
Owning a Pakistan Super League franchise (Peshawar Zalmi) is one of the several steps that the Pakistani businessman has taken in his zeal to see glory days of Pakistan cricket at home.
"The attack on Sri Lanka team in Lahore in 2009 was the worst thing that happened to Pakistan cricket and I have resolved to revive the game in Pakistan, using every source in my capacity," Javed said in an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times.

"Cricket and Peshawar Zalmi are more than game for me and I want to use this platform for the betterment of society," the soft-spoken owner stressed.
"I started sponsoring cricket series, which were not played outside Pakistan. It was a huge task for me to promote my product Haier and revive Pakistan cricket. I thank media and especially Khaleej Times for helping me in this cause."
The advent of Twenty20 has brought a sea-change in cricket and leagues are emerging all over the world. The PSL came into being in a very different way as two editions of this league has been played in the UAE due to security reasons in Pakistan.
"The emergence of the PSL is the best thing that happened to Pakistan cricket and despite a plethora of hurdles it is a huge success.
"It has helped us build a franchise called Peshawar Zalmi, which has a huge fan following all over the world. I have done case studies of clubs like Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid to build this brand.
"I want to register Peshawar Zalmi in 50 top cities of the world and we have reached 22 mark. There are London Zalmi, Bonn Zalmi and Melbourne Zalmi etc.
"In my opinion this is the best way to counter terrorism by luring the youth towards sports and we have many emerging players from terror-hit area in our team."
Cricket could be a money-spinning business but it has different connotation for Javed as he has used it to alleviate the pain endured by the society in Pakistan.
"As soon as we made Peshawar Zalmi, we established Peshawar Zalmi Foundation. A certain amount of money goes into the account of the foundation which is used to help terror-affected people.
"I want to serve my nation through cricket as I brought 150 students of terror-hit Army Public School Peshawar in a chartered plane to watch a match in the first PSL last year.
"Since it has been my alma mater, I am still in a shock.
"This year, we flew 19 cancer patients (boys and girls) from Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital to witness the opening tie of the Peshawar Zalmi in PSL 2.
"The dream of these kids to come to Dubai and visit Dubai Mall and Ferrari World was fulfilled. I am doing my best to heal the wounds of the society," the soft-spoken Peshawar Zalmi owner concluded.
liaqat@khaleejtimes.com