Indian Parsi writer-parliamentarian, Piloo Mody, has devoted the third chapter of his book "Zulfi, my friend" in describing the cricketing merits as well as the passion that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had developed for the game while studying in Bombay, where he moved in the company of cricket stalwarts like Mushtaq Ali, Gul Muhammad, C. T. Sarwate, B. B. Nimbalker and commentator Omer Kureishi.
Bhutto was committed to promotion of cricket in Pakistan and so was Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. The PPP chief ministers of Sindh have all prided in expressing their love and likings for cricket, and the new chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has lost no time in introducing himself as a cricketer.
In the legacy and domain of such powerful sports loving, cricket-minded personalities, there survives Jehangir Park, as one of the ugliest spots in the heart of the city whose glorious cricket past is now shrouded under the filth and garbage. It was one of the nurseries, which produced several hundreds of stout young cricketers in Pakistan's formative phase.
Pakistan's former cricket captain Intikhab Alam, while speaking as chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of a cricket tournament in Karachi, passionately referred to "glorious times of club cricket in the city". He said: "it were the club nets run in the evenings at Jehangir Park, Nishter Park, Sindh Madressah School, Dyer Textile Mills and several other localities of the city that kept regular flow of talent into representative teams and we as students always considered it a matter of great inspiration to watch players like Hanif Muhammad, Wazir Muhammad, Alimuddin, Waqar Hassan, Wallis Mathais, Mehmood Hussain, Saeed Ahmed, Muhammad Munaf, Raees Muhammad and Ikram Ilahi practicing with their clubmates. Abdul Hafeez Kardar was often seen practicing at Shaheen Club nets at Jehangir Park."
He lamented that Jehangir Park has lost status as a cricket-breeding centre after being converted into a public park during the 1960s and shockingly, it has now become abode for anti-social elements. The late scholar-cum-writer Ardeshir Cowasjee in his article in an English daily dated 9.4.2006 has mentioned that the land where Jehangir Park is situated was the private property of a Parsi philanthropist Behram Jehangir Rajkotwala. It was an open plot surrounded by tall shady trees and a garden-like environment. Late Rajkotwala donated it to Karachi Municipality in 1893 to facilitate the rest and recreation for the people flocking for treatment at the adjacent Edulji Dinshaw Charitable Dispensary. It was then popularly known as Behram Bagh but was renamed Jehangir Park some time later.
Jehangir Park Cricket Ground, with a well accommodating pavilion was functional by 1920. The outfield was surrounded by adequate grassy strips and tall trees to cater to the off time rest requirements of students of the nearby schools/colleges and to the working people of Karachi Saddar Commercial Area. They also enjoyed watching cricketers in action.
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