Javed Miandad and the D-Company: We are Family

Wedding bells amidst gunshots and batting strokes
By Akshay A. Kalbag
The month of July kept reporters on their toes. This month witnessed a major political upheaval, a tape containing a conversation between two former Bollywood lovebirds and a flood that brought a city to a standstill. All these incidents occurred in Mumbai.
This month was also the month of merrymaking for two famous families from Pakistani in the land of the sheikhs–Dubai. The emirate was chosen as the venue for the ‘godfather’ of all weddings.
The father of the bride is an underworld don wanted by the Mumbai police, and the groom’s (Mian) dad is a former cricketer, best known for his batting exploits against India.
Dawood Ibrahim’s daughter, Mahrukh tied the knot with Junaid, son of former Pakistani captain Javed Miandad in a high–profile ceremony at a five–star hotel in Dubai.
While the question was obviously raised as to whether the notorious D was present at the venue on his daughter’s big day, the guests were treated to a lavish party, complete with a sumptuous dinner.
Famous invitees included Bollywood stars and past and present cricketers, but none of them showed up. Miandad may have won several matches for Pakistan, has been the captain and coach and the highest run–scorer for Pakistan and is famous for his last–ball six off Indian medium–pacer Chetan Sharma in Sharjah in 1986, but the wedding was the one occasion where his son Junaid was declared the ‘man of the match’.
For the couple, love has scored and triumphed over everything else. For the media, a new chapter on cricket’s links with the underworld has been opened. The proud parents of Junaid and Mahrukh have to now reconcile with the fact that it is neither a gun nor a bat, but the joy of being together that’ll call the ‘shots’ in the future for the couple. Here is wishing them a long and happy married life, and hoping that their partnership continues for ever.