KARACHI: Jannisar Khan is a former Pakistan first class cricketer. Presently living in Houston, USA, Jannisar is reasonably successful white-collared executive at a local car dealership, who transforms into one of USA’s finest cricket coaches on weekends. His academy in Houston has enrolled a number of youngsters who display great enthusiasm in learning finer points of cricket from very dedicated Jannisar. The thing that amazes one is the joy and zeal the kids demonstrate during the coaching sessions. And that in itself is quite an achievement for Jannisar and his team. His pupils are as young as age of 6. As the two hour and a half long session wraps up, everyone in attendance gathers around the head coach for his wrap up notes, Jannisar provides very keen observations on almost each of his player. Team work and discipline are at the center of his speech and the little ones seem to listen very keenly without even blinking. The eagerness and anticipation in each youngster is commendable and the coach’s popularity amongst the group is very noticeable.
Jannisar is confident that cricket will find its feet in the United States over the next decade and his school -’SmartChoice National Academy’ – is committed to be a driving force in its growth. “As an academy we have aspirations and vision, all primarily focused around popularising the sport in this part of the world. United States is such a great market for cricket. I am glad the International Cricket Council (ICC) realises that and all we want to do is help in whatever way we can. Cricket has given me a lot and I aspire is to give whatever I can back to the sport. We are blessed to have the leadership of our President and CEO Mr Sakhi Mohammed, and his sincerity and vision has been a great motivational force for us all. Cricket is a gentleman’s game and we bank on our values like discipline and ethics, and that’s all we intend to pass on to the next generation,” he said in an interview.
Jannisar said cricketing events not only inspire the youth in the USA but youngsters in the United States were picking up cricket as a sport of their choice like never before. “It is only a matter of time before the USA produces a Virat Kohli or AB De Villiers. USA is arguably the greatest sporting nation in the world. The recent popularity of cricket is a sign that the USA is marching on towards greatness in cricket as well,” he maintained. Jannisar was born in Peshawar in Pakistan to a family with a rich cricketing history. His two elder brothers – Asghar Khan and Safdar Khan – were established local cricketers and had contributed immensely in the regional cricketing fraternity. He was amongst the most promising youngsters that were invited to play for the NWFP Sports Board Club along side future prominent first class players like Yasir Hameed and RifatUllah Bari.
Following a successful season at the club, Jannisar went on to enroll for the Pepsi open trials in 1994 which was adjudged by Imran Khan. At just 14, he was one of the youngest selected players at these trials and that earned him a reputation as one of the brightest talents in the region. He represented Pakistan Under-15 squad in the World Cup in England. He had successful Pakistan Under-19 tours of Australia and South Africa for the Under 19 World Cup where he was a very consistent performer and also earned a man of the match award. In 1999, he was a part of the Pakistan emerging talent squad that toured Holland and Denmark where he was one of the best performers with 22 wickets and a series of consistent scores with the bat.