KARACHI - Air Marshal Nur Khan, the former chief of Pakistan Air force and chairman of PIA who gave the world its first squash complex and brought crickets World Cup out of England and made it truly a world event, passed away on Thursday night in Islamabad after prolonged illness. The former fighter pilot who became national hero after his exploits in 1965 war was 88. Air Marshal would be known for his in numerous achievements in PAF and PIA but it was in the realm of sports he created a name for Pakistan. As chairman of the PIA he constructed worlds first exclusive squash complex here on Kashmir Road in mid-seventies. Some of the foreign teams that came to Karachi to appear in inaugural ZA Bhutto team trophy have rightly nicked named the complex as Taj Mahal of squash. The complex was first named as PIA squash complex but later name of squash great Jahangir Khan was added and it was renamed as PIA Jahangir Khan squash complex. No other country even England, the home of squash, had a squash complex and the prestigious British Amateur and British Open Squash Championships were held under the stands of Wembley Football Stadium. His second great achievement was bringing the crickets World Cup out of England which had always argued that if the World Cup was taken outside England, it would lose its charm and would not have the same importance and that no country has the infrastructure to organise such an event.However after becoming the president of the now defunct Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP) with the assistance of his able secretary Arif Ali Khan Abbasi, Nur Khan stunned the white members of the ICC when at the annual meeting of the cricket body he proposed that Pakistan with India should be given the right to host the World Cup. When representatives of Australia, England and New Zealand asked the BCCP head whether Pakistan had enough funds to host the event, a well prepared Air Marshal asked them how much money was needed and said give me the amount and Pakistan has it. Thus in mid-eighties the world cup came to the sub-continent where Pakistan and India jointly successfully hosted the event. Nur Khan also shared the honour of bringing revolutionary changes in cricket by introducing the concept of neutral umpires and match referee by inviting Indian and umpires some other countries to officiate in Test matches in Pakistan. He also initiated the moves to launch Asian Cricket Council which has carried the game almost in every Asian country. His contribution to world of hockey is also unparallel. As president of Pakistan Hockey Federation he gave the Junior World Cup and Champions Trophy to the world of hockey. He headed the PHF when Pakistan regained the Olympic title in 1968 in Mexico. Pakistan also won the 1978 world cup in Buenos Aires and retained it in 1982 in Bombay and the inaugural Junior World Cup in Versailles (France) in 1979. Pakistan also won three Champions Trophy in a row under his presidency. PIA supported development of squash in the world and what squash is today it was because of the efforts of the national airline under Nur Khan. He groomed junior squash stars Jahngir Khan and Jansher Khan into world winners by inducting them under junior programme and providing them opportunities to travel abroad on PIA. The entire Pakistani sports community in state of mourning with the loss of Nur Khan countrys biggest sports icon who immortalize Pakistans name in sports annals.