‘They are just like any other Punjabi’

z Bus drivers ferrying the Pakistan cricket team are all praise for the players

As members of the Pakistan cricket team sauntered into the team bus at the hotel, drivers Harnek Singh and Amrik Singh welcomed the players with an impromptu Punjabi welcome phrase: "Sat Sri Akal". Pakistan players Akmal brothers replied in Punjabi as the team settled in the bus and the drivers took the team to the PCA Stadium in Mohali. The duo has been assigned the job of ferrying the visiting team, and in their words, each Pakistan player is just like any other Punjabi.

"The first thing they asked us on the first day was to play either Gurdaas Mann songs or some traditional Punjabi songs. They greeted us in Punjabi and often converse in Punjabi with each other. It feels like we are ferrying Indian players only. Auon di Punjabi sade naalon wi changi hai (their Punjabi is even better than what we speak here). Some of them asked us about Punjabi food and our villages too," shared Amrik Singh, who belongs to Iserhal village in Fatehgarh Sahib district.

While the Pakistan team makes one or two trips to the stadium during the day, Amrik has past experience of driving the Delhi-Lahore bus for about a year but has never been to the other side of the Wagah border.

While most officials and hotel staff have been urging the team members for free tickets, Amrik has just one request for the players. "I have visited Wagah a lot of times, but I have never been to the Punjab province in Pakistan. Loki tan uthe wi sade varge hi hun (people on that side of the border are also like us). I have never been to Nankana Sahib and I will urge some of the players to bring some prasad from the gurdwara whenever they come to play a match next," said Amrik.

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