We must regroup to save Kenyan cricket: former Kenya captain Karim

Former Kenya captain Aasif Karim in Juhu on Wednesday. Pic/Subodh Mayure

Former Kenya captain Aasif Karim, 58, is pleased to be back in Mumbai, a city that holds happy memories of the team's ICC World Cup debut tournament in 1996. It was here that the Kenyan team played practice games ahead of the mega event in which they inflicted a shock defeat on former champions West Indies at Pune on February 29, 1996.

Karim, who is currently the chairman and chief organiser of the Kenya International Sports Film Festival, was in Juhu on Wednesday, as a special invitee for the screening of a sports film in Malayalam - Madappally United.

"Playing in India is an honour and a dream come true for most cricketers. A cricketer's career - amateur or professional - is as good as incomplete if he/she has not played in India. That 1996 World Cup experience was very special," Karim, a former left-arm spinner, who went on to play 34 ODIs for Kenya, told mid-day.

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Career highlight in 2003

The highlight of Karim's career were his figures of 8.2-6-7-3 against Australia in a 2003 World Cup league match against the mighty Australia. Kenya reached the semi-final of the tournament, losing to India at Kingsmead, Durban.

However, the current state of the game in the African nation is not great, said Karim. "It's very painful. It's very sad, because we reached the semis, when Sandeep Patil was our coach and did extremely well. Though Australia won that World Cup, Kenya were the talk of the town. Many even felt that Kenya should have got Test status thereafter. But unfortunately, our governance was not in place, our infrastructure was improper. Unless you have a solid development program and a good competitive domestic cricket structure, you cannot progress and things remain stagnant. ICC supported us to a fair extent, but we let ourselves down and that's the harsh reality," explained Karim.

‘Hopefully, it will flourish'

However, Karim, who also led his country in the Davis Cup tennis competition is optimistic about the future. "Kenya is blessed with wonderful weather. It is one of the only countries in the world where cricket can be played throughout. Even India, Australia and England can't do that. If our facilities can get better and we regroup at the administrative level, cricket can flourish once again," Karim signed off.