Captain (R) Azhar Ali was born on 7th April 1952 in Lahore. He got his early education from Army Burn Hall School, Murree from where he passed his matriculation. After passing his Intermediate from PAF School Sargodha, he joined Government College, Lahore for his Graduation. Thereafter, he was commissioned in the Pakistan Army and joined Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul in 1971 for his professional training after passing out from the PMA in 1972 he was posted to the army unit of 15 Lancers.
CAPTAIN (R) AZHAR ALI
Born on 7th April 1952
Died on 25th January 2013
Pakistani Polo Player
Azhar Ali began playing polo at a very young age. He owed his excellence as a horseman to his father Col. Inayatullah, who was the Commandant of Mona Depot, Sargodha. It was due to the training under the discipline of his father that he developed a classic style of a polo player.
He started playing first-class polo in 1969. His interaction with horses remained and in 1975, he was fortunate enough to join the President’s Body Guard, the only mounted regiment in Pakistan. He continued to play polo and in 1976 helped to defeat the American team on home ground.
In 1978, he has declared the best polo player in Pakistan. In 1979, he became the captain of the Multan Polo Team and helped to win the National Championship for the first and only time.
In 1980, he played for the famous Mona Depot Club and helped them to win the National Championship and became the Captain of the team in 1982.
In 1983, he left Pakistan Army and joined Pakistan International Airline, where he raised a polo team there as well. As a Captain of their Polo team, he went to China to play Polo and introduced the International rules of Polo to the local Chinese Polo teams.
In 1984, the Pakistan International Airline Polo team won the National Open Polo Championship after that PIA excelled in Polo and its team toured many countries winning events under the Captaincy of the dynamic player Azhar Ali.
In 1985, he was requested by a member of the British Guards Polo Club to play for their team in England. He immediately became a member of the prestigious Club. He had the honour of playing matches alongside the Princes of Jordon, Brunei, and England many times. Polo was his passion, and he loved to follow and abide by the rules of the game.
Afterwards, when he started Umpiring Polo matches, his ability to enforce the rules turned out to par excellence. Everyone in Pakistan wanted him to umpire their Polo matches, and his word was considered to be the final authority. Later he also became an International Umpire of Polo, which was an outstanding honour for any Pakistani. He was also invited by the English Polo Association to supervise several matches and had the honour of not only playing against Prince Charles but also of umpiring his matches. The Chairman of the Hurling-ham Polo Association often times requested him to supervise their matches including the finals like that of the Queens’ Cup etc. He also had the honour of being the lone Umpire for an exhibition match played between England-I (33 Goals) and England II (22 Goals). High handicap players like Memo Garcida, Carlos Garcida, Mexico, Julian Hipwood and Howard Hipwood to name a few participated in these matches.
Also, high-profile personalities like Queen Elizabeth II of England, Prince Phillip, the duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, Princess Diana, King Constantine and Queen Anne Marie of Greece were also present in these matches.
He also remained in all the Committees set up by Lahore Polo Association and was on the Executive Committee of the Lahore Polo Club.
He also introduced for the first time running commentary in Urdu during Polo matches. Later, he was selected to do the commentary in World Cup Play-offs in 2003.
Azhar Ali was not only a distinguished Polo player but an extremely good human being. He was a well-disciplined, honest, upright and straightforward person. He won many compliments for himself and for the teams in which he played. Besides being named the best Polo player in 1978, he won the Quaid-e-Azam Gold Cup 10 times, a remarkable feat achieved by few. He captained a number of teams during his career and helped them to win National Championships quite a number of times.
He died on 25th January 2013 in Lahore at the age of 61. Later his burial took place at Cavalry Ground Graveyard, Lahore Cantt. At the time of his death, he was serving Pakistan International Airline as Deputy General Manager.
He was a legend in the true sense of the word that lived only to the high standard of the game, but also to the high standard of humanity.