The inaugural Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Awards were organised recently to reward the best performing cricketers of the continent and the legends of cricket in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. It was held on the sidelines of the Asia Cup held in Pakistan. It also coincided with the Silver Jubilee of the ACC hence the evening was celebrated in style and splendour.
The venue for this hi- brow event was the majestic Mohatta Palace Museum which was dotted by the elite of PCB, ICC, ACC and BCCI along with cricket celebrities and notable guests. The venue was abuzz with excitement courtesy the presence of Pakistani, Indian and Sri Lankan teams.
The palace had been beautified keeping in mind the rich cultures of the six participating countries in ACC (Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and the UAE). It was a beautiful, breezy eve with a romantic zephyr
rustling through the surrounding trees lending the environment a surreal feel. As the guests started arriving they were ushered in the lounge which had six pockets each signifying a participant country.
The evening got underway with a warm welcome by the MCs of the evening - famous former cricketer Ramiz Raja and Indian actress and presenter, Suchitra Pillai. This was followed by speeches from ACC president Mr. Arjuna Ranatunga and Chairman PCB, Dr. Naseem Ashraf.
Then the awards ceremony was announced; the ceremony was interspersed by various entertaining segments like the remarkable Sri Lankan classical dance "Kohomba Yakuma" followed by a stand
up comedy show; but the show stealer (and my personal favourite) was the outstanding dance fusion by Nighat Chaudhary and Wahab Shah.
Guests were then treated to a fashion segment by Sadia Mirza and Indian designer Ritu Beri. After the completion of the awards, dinner was announced but there was more to follow.
The stage was vacated for Arif Lohar, who, successfully roused the audience with his rustic and forceful offering. The foreigners and locals really seemed to enjoy his renditions as was evident from the way people congregated in groups to listen to Arif belt out a few of his hit numbers while others were busy devouring the exotic cuisine.
The show came to a close with Amjad Sabri’s Qawwali much to the delight of the senior guests; and thus we bid adios to our foreign guests.n |
