Wicket Say Wicket Tak, the Urdu translation of Peter Obornes book Wounded Tiger by Najam Latif, was launched on the last day of the Adab Festival Pakistan on Sunday at Sindh Governor House.
Answering a question from presenter Saad Shafqat, Mr. Oborne said he had been sent to Pakistan as a reporter. It was an exciting experience for him. He saw cricket on every ground. He realized that in the West some false narratives were pushed through the country. So he decided to write a book to tell the true story.
“The history of cricket in Pakistan is closely linked to the history of the country,” he said.
Mr Latif said he chose the title Wicket Say Wicket Tak because he wanted to use a phrase that people were familiar with. In addition, the title suggests that the book moves from one story to another (aik daastaan says doosri daastan tak). Working with Mr Oborne was an inspiring experience for him, Mr Latif said. Mr Oborne came back to Pakistan in the worst circumstances. He has always shown the world the true picture of the country.
Journalist Qamar Ahmed said that unfortunately there were no publishers in Pakistan who wanted to publish and pay for a cricket book. Therefore, most books that see the light of day are self-published. Mr. Oborne’s book is a masterpiece, and Mr. Latif is a perfectionist as a translator, he said.
Novelist and cricket enthusiast Richard Heller said it was Mr. Oborne who cricketed him in Pakistan in 2013 by calling him and telling him to write a book. This made him come to Pakistan for the first time, Heller said. During their research, they made a train journey from Karachi to Lahore, and every time he looked out of the train he saw a cricket somewhere.
“Pakistan has an amazing relationship with cricket,” he said. “Cricket is a game that has a tremendous inner life and inner drama and one sees this most in Pakistan cricket.”
In response to a question about the return of international cricket to Pakistan, Mr. Oborne said he had already started when the West Indian cricket team for women traveled the country these days.
