Star of parallel universe

The barren ground in Lahore was lit with makeshift light towers. The wicket was half prepared in terms of the length. There were panaflex banners of sponsors installed at the boundary and hundreds of people were sitting on the ground outside it to cheer the players.

A tall right-handed batter was on strike, standing just inches away from the stumps. Bowlers steamed and bowled at a great pace at difficult lengths, but he stood calmly and hit them for sixes in every part of the ground. He scored 83 runs in that contest.

This was my first introduction to a star of the tape-ball cricket Ahsan Jahanzeb, commonly known as Ahsan Chitta, via a YouTube video in 2018.

Tape-ball cricket is a well-known phenomenon in Pakistan, and now even overseas. However, few people know that it has become a small industry and there are many professional tape-ball players in the country.

“For many people, tape ball doesn’t hold much any significance,” said Chitta while talking to Bol News. “It is a small industry now. Some people believe it is only a betting ground and everything is a fluke; however, it is not true. We work extremely hard to win [the games].”

According to the 31-year-old, it is hard for him and his fellows to explain to people what they actually do. “We don’t explain [it anymore] what cricket we play, we just say we play cricket,” he said.

These players are actual stars in this parallel world of cricket, who fans admire, love and die to meet. They are not ordinary people anymore. You have to take their appointment to talk to them even for a few minutes.

Personally, I have interviewed numerous cricketers and officials so far including Fakhar Zaman, Aleem Dar, Asif Ali and others. However, despite trying for about more than a year, I could not get hold of the household names of this universe such as Tamour Mirza, Khurram Chakwal or Zaheer Kalia. Probably they were not willing to feature in mainstream media or were too busy for an interview.

Mirza, Chakwal and Kalia are arguably the biggest names currently in the tape ball circuit, with Mirza having over 173,000 fans on Facebook and others also having popular fan pages on the platform. Even Chitta has over 42,000 likes on his Facebook page.

Social media has played a massive role in promoting this brand of cricket in the country. There are dedicated pages on these platforms, having hundreds and thousands of followers. These pages cover all major games and tournaments, helping the game to grow and players to become stars.

Facebook pages stream live games and thousands of people watch these action-packed contests. Even the commentary in these videos plays a significant role in the promotion of the game.

“I had never thought that our cricket will be on social media and people will recognise me and take selfies with me,” he maintained. “I believe in the coming days, it will be telecast live on TV. It should be on TV as it can provide more opportunities to the budding cricketers.”

Monetary aspect

These tape-ball tournaments are played on different scales. It depends on the sponsors involved, the number of teams participating and other such aspects.

The teams interested in taking part in the event need to submit an entry fee, while the players are paid little by the sponsors.

Most commonly, these players are free agents, who can be hired by any team for a decided amount of money.

People say that the renowned players can make a sufficient amount of money in busy seasons such as in Ramazan and their earnings can reach up to six figures.

However, Chitta maintained that a player can only shoulder his expenses by playing tape-ball cricket and cannot feed a family with it.

“You can take care of yourself with tape-ball cricket, but cannot meet the expenses of a family,” he said. “If you have a family, you must have a side business, like people selling bats. Khurram Chakwal and Tamour Mirza, all are doing it. Chakwal has a shop so is Zaheer Kalia.”

The journey

It is unnecessary to mention that Chitta started playing cricket like any other kid in the country, in the streets and got to experience the cricket ball for the first time in school.

No one played cricket in his family, in fact, no one was even a fan of the game. Still, he was a gifted player and soon started catching eyeballs, though he was not as good at that time as he is now.

Back in 2012-13, a popular tape-ball cricketer of Lahore, Ijaz, recognised the gem he was and selected him for a game. It was the first time he played competitive tape-ball cricket. He was impressive and just after two years, in 2015, Qaiser Butt, took him to Sharjah as a part of his unit, Butt XI.

“We had players from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and other countries in that tournament,” he said. “I performed extraordinarily well in that campaign and it was where I felt that I belong to this level.”

The talented tape-ball cricketer briefly played senior district and Grade II cricket, but he did not pursue it and stuck to the tape ball variant.

According to Chitta, the batters have to hit every ball out of the ground in street cricket, while bowlers have to find a way to survive that carnage.

“Tape ball and hard ball are totally different games,” he said. “One demands temperament, other is just slogging. In tape ball, you just need to hit out on every delivery. Our cricket is similar to T10 cricket. Meanwhile, you need to play long in hard ball.”

Though tape-ball cricket looks extremely unprofessional and basic, players need to work hard to stay at the top of their game.

The anatomy

Like any other professional, tape ball players need to stay in their best shape to challenge the best players of their universe.

Summer is the busiest season for these cricketers, while the activities are reduced in winters. In their offseason, they do not just relax and spend time at home but work even harder to hone their skills.

“You get strong with hard work,” he maintained. “We work hard on our fitness, we practice different shots and scenarios. We pay special attention on our reflexes.”

Tape ball bats are different from conventional cricket bats. They are long, lean and light. Tape ball bats are made of coconut wood and are often imported from Sri Lanka.

“They are not made in Pakistan, they are imported from Sri Lanka and are modified here in Sialkot as per our requirements,” he shared.

These bats are long and curved near the toe-end, designed specifically to lift the balls from the blockhole as it is the go-to delivery for the bowlers.

Moreover, these street cricketers are such well-known in the circuit that they launch their own sporting brands. Tamour Mirza has TM, Khurram Chakwal and KC and Zaheer Kalia has ZK.

Chitta had also launched his brand, but he discontinued it as he did not want to make it into a business.

“I had a brand too but I closed it. I only launched my bat so that no one could ask me to play from their bat,” he explained. “It gets difficult to refuse some and choose some, which is why I use a bat without any sticker now.”

The quality

If you are ignorant about the level at which tape-ball cricket is played and its players’ skills, you might argue that this brand of the game lacks quality.

The truth is, tape ball players are incredible at what they do. The batters have outstanding hand and eye coordination while the bowlers are incredibly fast and accurate.

The quality of this form of cricket can be gauged by the fact that Hasan Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Abbas and especially Haris Rauf are all tape ball products.

Chitta has played alongside or against all these names before they became international stars.

“I have played with Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Abbas, Faheem Ashraf and a couple of more. All of them are bowlers. When I had played with them they hadn’t played for Pakistan. Like any other Pakistani kid, they also played tape ball before making it big.”

He shared that Rauf suddenly played for Pakistan after Lahore Qalandars identified the talent he had.

“Rauf suddenly played for Pakistan, Qalandars picked them up and worked on them,” he said.

The 31-year-old stated that the Pakistan Cricket Board is actually against tape-ball cricket and their narrative is that it spoils players.

He believes that this form of the game can ruin batters as it does not demand any technique or temperament; however, it can be beneficial for bowlers, especially in the age of T20s.

“Two out of four current bowlers [Hasan Ali and Haris Rauf] were professional tape ball bowlers,” he said. “If you groom these raw talents, they can turn into world-class players. We have a pool of talented players, you can at least get T20 players from the tape ball circuit. I have seen Asif Ali play tape ball to improve his power hitting,” he argued, proposing that Pakistan can have separate teams for T20s and Test.

The Culture

Tape-ball cricket has a different and rich culture. There are some interesting aspects that you can never witness in professional cricket, such as live challenges during the match or spectators rewarding the player.

In tape ball games, there are a couple of giants in each team, for instance, Tamour Mirza batting and going absolutely berserk against the opponent team’s bowlers.

The organisers may announce that whoever gets Mirza out will get a cash prize of Rs10,000. Similarly, there can be an announcement that the batter will get Rs1,000 for each maximum he hits.

Furthermore, if you have ever attended a tape ball game or watched it online, you probably have seen spectators rushing in after every six or a wicket to hug the player and award them with some cash that they keep in their pockets.

Chitta believes that it is just a small token of love from people.

Punjab vs Karachi

The tape ball is undoubtedly an invention of Karachi. However, Punjab has become far superior to the metropolis when it comes to tape-ball cricket.

This brand of the game has evolved massively in the last five or six years. A decade back, there was almost no concept of intra-province competitions or players travelling from one province to another to play tournaments.

However, since Chitta started playing in Karachi, he has noticed that Punjab is far ahead of Sindh in all aspects of the game. They have extraordinary players from Lahore, Chakwal, Sialkot, Gujranwala and other places.

“I started playing in Karachi in the last four-five years,” he reminisced. “Karachi cricket is also good, but as compared to Punjab, they are very weak. We are better in all aspects of the game.”

He put forward a possible explanation for the difference in the standard of cricket in both provinces, saying there is more cricket in Punjab as they play all over the province in different cities, while Karachi cricket is limited to Karachi only.

“We play in all cities, all villages, that is why we have more talent of tape-ball cricket in Punjab, as compared to Karachi,” he explained.

A common narrative in the metropolis is that the city is overpopulated and there are very few open spaces left for kids to play the sport. However, Chitta does not agree with this argument, maintaining that the situation is similar in the provincial capital of Punjab as well.

“Tape-ball cricket is [played on roads] and we don’t have grounds in Lahore as well. We play anywhere we find space,” he said. “It is similar across the country. This is how tape ball players are made. When you improve and reach a certain level then you find better grounds to play along with better players.”

Sad ending

A tape ball players can survive till they are 36 or 37 years old. After that, their reflexes start to get slower. They find it hard to hit sixes and bowl with the same pace and accuracy. They are bettered by the young blood coming in and they quietly have to walk into the dark.

Unlike national or First-Class cricketers, street cricketers cannot turn to coaching or commentary after reaching the retirement age.

To make ends meet, they tend to rely on different professions such as having a sports goods shop or some other work.

Though Chitta enjoys all the fame and is currently at the peak of his career, he is still sceptical about kids becoming professional tape-ball cricketers.

“Try hard ball, work hard in it, try to make a future in it, it is real cricket,” he advised. “If you can’t succeed in tape ball, I will suggest you get an education, learn some skills and do something else and just play tape ball to feed your passion for the game.”