Schools tell us Hockey is Pakistan’s national sport but even before school begins, even before a kid in Pakistan attends his first class -or doesn’t attend school at all- he knows there’s only one sport that surpasses anything and everything in this country: Kirkit. He knows the names of Pakistan kirkit team’s players and around 90% of kids can be seen with bat and ball just as they start walking. This portrays how deeply this nation loves Kirkit. It’s in our blood.
Ask us about the hockey rules, we may be able to explain only penalty corner and penalty stroke but when it comes to kirkit, we know it inside out and by heart.
We anxiously wait for kirkit World Cup like we do for a wedding or a festival to happen k kab shru hoga akhir. We may not be able to go all crazy for the team in stadium; we make sure that TV room does not lack the feel of it all. Food, dhol, flags and everything else needed is arranged before a crunch match so that no one will have to miss a single ball. We will cheer at the top of our lungs for Pakistan until the match is over. We glue ourselves to TV as if it’s a matter of life and death, with our hands crossed against the chest over a critical situation. We clad ourselves in green or essences of green. We wish and pray for PAK XI to win, sometimes even with an intensity that surpasses our feelings when we wish for success in an exam.
Because it’s in our blood and because we love the game so much, national Kirkit team just can’t satisfy us. Here comes in the ultimate: Galli Kirkit. With Afridis and Akmals in every corner, don’t underestimate the power of Galli Kirkiters. They’re passionate and they are good! Proof? We all have, at a certain point, used this sentence when Pakistani team is losing: “in se acha tou hamari galli ke bache khelte hain!”
They come out on holidays, whether it is a Sunday, a strike or an aam-tateel, to occupy every deserted galli of the city and play with all their might to connect with and bring out the Afridi, Gul or Akhtar within. To assume Galli Kirkit to be something not-so-serious would be a mistake: It’s blood, sweat, heart and soul. It’s efforts and energies. If you hear a teenager stating “match hai“, take them seriously.
The game does not start off just like that. Firstly, all the necessary equipment is arranged for. The lack of wicket is countered by chairs, empty cartons or fruit petiyan, tapes and balls are arranged by contributions from everyone and those two Kirkit fanatics, walking -talking wikipedias of records and history of Kirkte in Pakistan are the ones who usually bring in their bats. Equipment down, agreeing on rules is the next step.
The rules almost always favor the person/team that brings the bat or ball. If you are a Galli Krikit fan yourself, you know you have used these rules (or alternate versions) at some point in your glorious career:
- Agar ghussay wali aanti k ghar ball gayee to out bhi hogay aur ball bhi le kar deni paray gi!!
- Kisi ka sheesha toota to khud he jawab dena un ko!!
- In case of conjusted galliyan, one tip aur teen bar body ko lagi to bhi out hai.
- Ball agar jhariyon mein gayee to 1 run hoga.
- Galli se bahar ka out hoga.
- If a tree is outside the boundary but its bushes are well spread, if the ball touches a leaf, choka and chakka!
The match, although starts in a peaceful settting, almost never ends that way. A phadda is a must, often initiated by a player of the losing team. Throwing bats around is a popular sight when a wicket is lost. Oh and, if you are the bat-owner, don’t forget to threaten that you’ll leave the game like a boss to make people agree to what you say. It’s always do or die, with a belief that hum jeetengay ya woh log haarain gay. Bowling after winning the toss is stupid. Umpires are usually biased and a thelay wala or a respected uncle will provide services of the third umpire.
This galli cricket has produced great kirkiters like Hasan Raza (youngest player to debut in Test Matches),Hanif Mohammad (first Pakistani to score a triple century), the legend Javed Miandad and our very own: Lala.
Despite all the phadday, every other day there is a new beginning. Arguments and bay-eemanis are forgotten and room is made for the new ones to replace them. This is one of the main reasons why Galli Kirkit is so successful. It does sound crazy but that’s what growing up in Karachi is all about. Despite all the violence and roars, the love for Kirkit and for each other stays the same and perhaps always will. We will keep playing with the same spirit, with the same rules and we will keep on winning what the world calls Cricket.
