A launch in style: Dr. Nauman Niaz unveils 'In A Different Realm'

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 20 April 2025 |  JP Staff Report

Dr. Nauman Niaz unveiled his fifteenth book, 'In A Different Realm', during an elegant ceremony at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. The event celebrated cricket's legacy and honored numerous influential figures in the sport.

Summary

ISLAMABAD—On a crisp Islamabad evening, when the ochre dusk lowered its head before the incandescent chandeliers of the Marriott Hotel, a gathering not just of cricket’s men but of minds and memory assembled to witness yet another offering from one of Pakistan’s most erudite sons. Dr. Nauman Niaz—cricket historian, television anchor, and chronicler of our game’s metaphysical soul—launched his fifteenth book: In A Different Realm – Story of Quadruple and Triple Centuries 1876–2025.

This was not only a book launch. It was a confluence of reverence and reminiscence, of scholarship and sentiment, marked by the sobriety of academia and the unspoken nostalgia of a nation’s cricketing consciousness. A 535-page tome, the book lay on a pedestal not unlike a sculpture unveiled, its pages heavy with history and its cover a work of art, coffee-table sized, bound meticulously, printed on fine art paper by Boundary Books of Oxfordshire, that old English county so often touched by cricket.

And so the evening began with DJ Shahzad Ishaq Khan anchoring the affair with the deftness of a first slip taking a thick outside edge in fading light. Dr. Niaz, as is often his style, began not with self-congratulations but by pausing at the altar of memory. He spoke not only of his book but of his mentors, patrons, and comrades in the long innings of his career. One could sense the ache and warmth in his tone as he recalled Mohammad Malick, the broadcaster and former MD of PTV whose belief, delegation of power, and emotional investment breathed life into ideas that could have otherwise withered on editorial desks.

With the cadence of a man speaking to his own youth, Dr. Niaz drew an arc back to when he first began writing for The Muslim, under the exacting and enlightening eyes of Mushahid Hussain, Shireen Mazari, and Dr. Maleeha Lodhi. The reverence extended to The News, where editorial wisdom came in the form of Dr. Lodhi once more and Sports Editor Imran Naeem Ahmad. There were affirmations to Maqsood Ahmed—player and patron saint of guidance—whose cricketing counsel remained fixed in his conscience.

And then, that magnificent leap in narrative. Dr. Niaz recalled Rashid Latif, Brigadier Muadat Rana—the psychiatrist with a philosopher’s soul, how he also drew parallels and elucidated Nauman’s perfect as an Endocrinologist, even discussing his prescriptions—and Akhtar Waqar Azeem, the man who gave him his first taste of commentary, almost by accident, when the seasoned duo of Iftikhar Ahmad and Chishti Mujahid found themselves detained by Islamabad’s ever-unpredictable traffic. It was, as Dr. Niaz described, ‘a moment of inherited fate,’ one of those curious tricks of time when destiny dresses in coincidence.

There was more. Of Lieutenant General Tauqir Zia, a man with the foresight to shepherd not just the cricketer but the cricket intellectual. Zia, regal and composed, lauded Dr. Niaz’s bluntness. his refusal to wear the mask of diplomacy and declared him, not without affection, a genius who belonged to Socratic lineage, had fate allowed his birth a few millennia earlier.

Rashid Latif, ever the astute observer and eternal insider. spoke too, with humility and gratitude. He painted the portrait of a complex man, equal parts eccentric and meticulous, driven by something deeper than ambition: a sacred, unwavering fidelity to the truth of cricket.

The ceremony, though compact, had the feel of a Test match session in the last hour before stumps—intense, illuminating, and unflinching in emotion. Hanif Abbasi, a guest of note, Federal Minister for Railways and survivor of life’s cruelest tests, described Dr. Niaz not just as a scholar but as a man of strength, cancer of the body may come, but not that of the spirit. Ramiz Raja followed with a wistful air, enviously commenting on his unpenned book, and hailed Dr. Niaz’s scholarship as something almost intimidating in its scale and clarity. ‘He is a rare man in a fading field,’ said Ramiz, offering light jests but not without deep admiration. He reiterated that Nauman was still relevant and extremely erudite. Rauf Klasra, a top journalist also spoke from deep inside his heart rating the author is an outstanding resource, also acknowledging how the views of his Vlogs soar when Nauman appears as guest.

Mohammad Malick termed Nauman a multi-tasker, an executioner and a difficult man to handle, contemplating that his competence and brains often became his enemy intimidating the people working around him. He admitted that silently Nauman had also played an integral role in getting back international cricket to Pakistan after it had been exiled, a sequel of March 3rd, 2009 terrorist attack on Sri Lanka’s team by inviting the best of the best to the PTV Islamabad Studios during the tumultuous times.

As one might expect in these digital years, voices were not confined to those in the room. Messages poured in from across the cricketing world—from Sir Vivian Richards, who referred to Dr. Niaz as ‘a friend of cricket’s conscience,’ to Shahid Afridi, Rashid Latif (once more), Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Aamer Sohail, Russell Domingo, Islahauddin Siddiqui, Ajay Jadeja, Lance Klusener, Shaun Tait, and even from the other side of the border—Mohammad Azharuddin, Vijay Lokapally, and Ayaz Memon—men who know the impact of cricket’s past and the fragility of its present. Zainab Abbas, Rilee Rossouw, Nikhel Chopra, David Battersby, Wasim Akram, Younis Khan, and Waqar Younis added to the swell.

And then came the ceremonial cake, cleverly crafted in the image of the very book it honoured. There was laughter, there was awe. And in a corner, there were books signed, not only with names, but with memories.

One left that room not with the sense of an evening concluded but of a phase opened. For Dr. Nauman Niaz, this fifteenth work, on the almost mythic feats of triple and quadruple centuries was never about runs alone. It was about resolve, transcendence, and the silent longevity. And that, perhaps, is why the book and its birth were both so elegantly received.

Cricket, in Dr. Niaz’s hands, remains not a game but of echoes, of wisdom, and of something sacred between the creases.

ان اÛ' ڈفرنٹ ریلم Ú©ÛŒ رونمائی: ڈاکٹر نعمان نیاز Ú©ÛŒ کتاب

اسلام آباد — ایک خوشگوار شام، جب اسلام آباد Ú©ÛŒ سرمئی شام Ù†Û' میریٹ ہوٹل Ú©Û' جگمگاتÛ' فانوسوں Ú©Û' سامنÛ' سر جھکایا، یہ محض کرکٹ Ú©Û' لوگوں کا نہیں بلکہ ذہنوں اور یادوں کا اجتماع تھاÛ" یہاں پاکستان Ú©Û' ایک باعلم اور سنجیدہ فرزند، ڈاکٹر نعمان نیاز—کرکٹ مورخ، Ù¹ÛŒ ÙˆÛŒ اینکر اور کھیل Ú©ÛŒ روحانی داستانوں Ú©Û' راوی—Ù†Û' اپنی پندرہویں کتاب "ان اÛ' ڈفرنٹ رِلم – چار اور تین سنچریوں Ú©ÛŒ کہانی 1876–2025" Ú©ÛŒ تقریبِ رونمائی منعقد Ú©ÛŒÛ"

یہ محض کتاب Ú©ÛŒ تقریب نہیں تھی بلکہ ادب، احترام اور جذبات کا امتزاج تھاÛ" 535 صفحات پر مشتمل یہ کتاب ایک شاہکار Ú©ÛŒ مانند نمایاں رکھی گئی تھیÛ" اس Ú©ÛŒ جلد آرٹ کا نمونہ، سائز کافی ٹیبل بُک جیسا، اور پرنٹنگ آکسفورڈ شائر Ú©Û' مشہور باؤنڈری بکس Ù†Û' اعلیٰ کوالٹی Ú©Û' آرٹ پیپر پر Ú©ÛŒ تھیÛ"

تقریب Ú©ÛŒ نظامت ÚˆÛŒ جÛ' شہزاد اسحٰق خان Ù†Û' ایسÛ' Ú©ÛŒ جیسÛ' آخری روشنی میں پہلی سلپ ایک مشکل کیچ Ù¾Ú©Ú' رہا ہوÛ" ڈاکٹر نیاز Ù†Û' حسبِ روایت ابتدا میں خود Ú©Ùˆ نہیں بلکہ اپنÛ' ان اساتذہ، سرپرستوں اور ساتھیوں Ú©Ùˆ یاد کیا جنہوں Ù†Û' ان Ú©Û' کیریئر Ú©Û' طویل سفر میں ان کا ساتھ دیاÛ"

انہوں Ù†Û' دی مسلم سÛ' آغاز Ú©Û' ایÙ'ام یاد Ú©ÛŒÛ'ØŒ جہاں ان پر مشاہد حسین، شیریں مزاری اور ڈاکٹر ملیحہ لودھی Ú©ÛŒ گہری نظر رہیÛ" بعد ازاں دی نیوز میں ڈاکٹر لودھی اور کھیلوں Ú©Û' ایڈیٹر عمران نعیم احمد Ù†Û' انہیں مزید نکھاراÛ" انہوں Ù†Û' معروف کرکٹر اور رہنما مقصود احمد Ú©ÛŒ رہنمائی کا بھی ذکر کیاÛ"

پھر منظر بدلا، اور قصہ آیا رشید لطیف کا، بریگیڈیئر معادت رانا کا—جو ایک ماہرِ نفسیات ہونÛ' Ú©Û' ساتھ ساتھ فلسفیانہ دل Ùˆ دماغ Ú©Û' حامل تھÛ'—اور اختر وقار عظیم کا، جنہوں Ù†Û' ایک اتفاقیہ موقع پر ڈاکٹر نیاز Ú©Ùˆ کمنٹری کا ذائقہ چکھایاÛ" وہ لمحہ، جیسا کہ ڈاکٹر نیاز Ù†Û' کہا، "قسمت کا پہنا ہوا اتفاق تھاÛ""

لیفٹیننٹ جنرل توقیر ضیاء Ú©Ùˆ یاد کیا گیا، جنہوں Ù†Û' نہ صرف کرکٹرز بلکہ کرکٹ Ú©Û' مفکرین Ú©Ùˆ بھی سنواراÛ" رشید لطیف Ù†Û' ڈاکٹر نیاز Ú©Ùˆ ایک ایسا شخص قرار دیا جو سچ Ú©ÛŒ تلاش میں سرگرداں رہاÛ" ہنیف عباسی Ù†Û' ان Ú©ÛŒ جسمانی بیماری Ú©Û' باوجود روحانی طاقت کا اعتراف کیا، جبکہ رمیز راجہ Ù†Û' کہا کہ وہ اپنی نہ Ù„Ú©Ú¾ÛŒ گئی کتاب پر رشک کرتÛ' ہیں، اور ڈاکٹر نیاز Ú©Ùˆ علم Ùˆ فہم کا نادر نمونہ قرار دیاÛ"

معروف صحافی رؤف کلاسرا Ù†Û' انہیں بہترین علمی اثاثہ کہا، جبکہ محمد مالک Ù†Û' کہا کہ نعمان Ú©ÛŒ ذہانت اکثر ان Ú©Û' Ù„ÛŒÛ' رکاوٹ بنی کیونکہ وہ دوسروں Ú©Ùˆ مرعوب کر دیتÛ' تھÛ'Û" مالک Ù†Û' انکشاف کیا کہ نعمان Ù†Û' خاموشی سÛ' عالمی کرکٹ Ú©ÛŒ پاکستان واپسی میں اہم کردار ادا کیاÛ"

تقریب میں صرف مقامی ہی نہیں بلکہ بین الاقوامی آوازیں بھی شامل ہوئیںÛ" ویوین رچرڈز Ù†Û' ڈاکٹر نیاز Ú©Ùˆ "کرکٹ Ú©Û' ضمیر کا دوست" کہا، جبکہ شاہد آفریدی، سرفراز احمد، سکلین مشتاق، عامر سہیل، اجÛ' جدیجا، لانس کلوزنر، شان ٹیٹ، محمد اظہرالدین، ویجÛ' لوکپالی، اور ایاز میمن جیسÛ' ستاروں Ù†Û' نیک تمناؤں Ú©Û' پیغامات بھیجÛ'Û"

آخر میں کتاب Ú©Û' جیسا ڈیزائن کیا گیا کیک پیش کیا گیا، دستخط ہوئÛ'ØŒ باتیں ہوئیں، یادیں بانٹی گئیںÛ"

یہ محض ایک شام کا اختتام نہیں تھا بلکہ ایک نئÛ' باب کا آغاز تھاÛ" ڈاکٹر نعمان نیاز Ú©ÛŒ پندرہویں کتاب صرف رنز Ú©ÛŒ نہیں بلکہ استقامت، عظمت اور خاموش تسلسل Ú©ÛŒ کہانی ہÛ'Û" اور شاید اسی Ù„ÛŒÛ' اس Ú©ÛŒ پذیرائی اس قدر باوقار تھیÛ"

ڈاکٹر نیاز Ú©Û' ہاتھوں میں کرکٹ ایک کھیل نہیں بلکہ ایک گونج، ایک حکمت، اور Ù¾Ú† Ú©Û' درمیان موجود ایک مقدس جذبہ بن جاتی ہÛ'Û"