KTLP: Tape ball cricket’s very first league

Tape ball is often termed as the nursery for producing cricketers in Pakistan. It feels just right to talk about the first-ever edition of the Karachi Tape Ball Premier League (KTPL).

The competition — the first of its kind — will begin from the first day of the year 2022 at the Asghar Ali Shah Cricket Stadium.

The KPTL will consist of eight teams—Gulshan Ghazi, DHA Dabangs, Liyari Legends, FB Fighters, Malir Malangs, Johar Jawan, North Nawabs, and Gulshan Gohar.

These teams will battle it out for the ultimate prize of winning the inaugural edition of the competition.

Former Pakistan captain and legendary batter Javed Miandad is the president of the league and while talking exclusively to Bol News, he expressed his belief that the competition will take tape ball cricket in a new era.

“The stage is set for the KTPL; preparations are nearing completion and team combinations are being finalized,” he said. “It is time for tape ball cricket to head into a new era. Soon, tape ball cricket will be a famous sport in the world.”

Chairman of the KTPL and Managing director of Badar Expo Zohair Naseer stated that the aim of the league is to promote tape ball cricket in a structural way for the youth of the country to showcase their talent in front of the masses.

“Haris Rauf is a tape ball cricketer but believe me, there are so many cricketers like him in tape ball cricket [in Pakistan],” he said. “All we want to do is to channelize this talent to the national team. Our goal is to take tape ball cricket tournament at the national level and KTPL is just a beginning.”

Former Test cricketer and technical director of the tournament Haroon Rasheed discloses that the matches will not be a traditional limited-overs fixture.

“Tape ball cricket is very fast so we have tried to create more opportunities for the players,” he said. “We have divided 12 overs match into two innings for each team. In this format, each side will bat or ball twice. In the two innings format, batters will have two chances to show their talent. Sometimes a very good player bowled out on the first ball so it’s depressing for him and his fans. But now, the player will have two chances to perform.”

Former Test cricketer Tauseef Ahmed remains optimistic about the league’s success as according to him, tape ball cricket is very famous at the grass-root level.

“Tape ball cricket is the most famous sport at the grass-root level [in Pakistan],” he said. “In every city of the country, you will see kids playing cricket on the streets. Karachi cricketers are famous for their street smartness and one of the reasons for that is all of them have played tape ball cricket which sharpened their skills.”

All teams will be led by former international cricketers of Pakistan. Mohammad Sami, Shabbir Ahmed, Naveed Latif, Hassan Raza, Noman Ullah, Shadab Kabir, Mehmood Hamid, and Faisal Athar named captains of Malir Malangs, Clifton Ghazis, Johar Jawans, Gulshan Gohars, DHA Dabangs, FB Fighters, Liyari Legends, and North Nawabs, respectively.

“We have divided Karachi into eight teams graphically,” said the chairperson of the league Zohaib Naseer. “The teams’ names are based on the different areas in Karachi so every area got representation in the league. It’s a sport of common man so we have tried our best to cover every aspect to get the attractions of the fans.”

Squads have been drafted from a pool of 450 players from all over Pakistan, spreading across three different categories.

Dawood Pathan, who is a tape ball specialist and is famous for his hard-hitting in Karachi, appreciated the effort to bring this form of cricket into the limelight.

“Tape ball cricket is a different world,” he said. “We’ve hundreds of fans who support us wherever we go to play. Tape ball cricket is equally famous in cities as well as in rural areas in Pakistan. You’ll hardly find a Pakistani guy who has never played tape ball cricket. It’s good to see that business tycoons see the potential of this game and come forward to bring this form of sport in the mainstream.’’

The tournament will be played on a league basis where each team will play seven matches and the top two sides on the points table will face each other in the final.

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