Bilawal holds his mother’s photograph at a news conference after becoming PPP chairman. (AP)

Islamabad, Dec. 30: Had he been on a less bouncy wicket, Bilawal Bhutto might well have been playing cricket for Pakistan.

The tall and dapper 19-year-old, who was today forced to take over the reins of the Pakistan People’s Party, has rued not being able to play cricket because of “the circumstances in which my family has been put”.

A fitness freak and a keen sports enthusiast, Bilawal had told a Pakistani daily three years ago that he would “always regret” not being able to play the game.

Shuttling between Dubai and London, the cities his mother Benazir Bhutto had based herself in self-imposed exile, would not have been easy for the youngster. Add to that his father, Asif Ali Zardari, being jailed for eight years in Pakistan on corruption charges.

Cricket is not Bilawal’s only passion, though. He is a black belt in taekwondo and enjoys riding, swimming, target-shooting and squash. Like his mother who he used to dote on, he loves books and computers and is keenly interested in history and politics.

As a 15-year-old studying in a prestigious Dubai school, Bilawal had not been sure if he wanted to join the family profession, though he had conceded he had “powerful role models” to show him the way.

“We will see. I don’t know. I would like to help the people of Pakistan, so I will decide when I finish my studies.

“I can either enter politics or I can enter another career that would benefit the people,” he had said.

But the suave Oxonian — he joined Oxford in March after finishing his ‘’ levels in Dubai — did not have much of a choice today when he was anointed chairman of the PPP, founded 40 years ago by his grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

It is not known how much of Pakistan politics Bilawal understands but he is on record that his country would not face half the problems it did if democracy were restored.

“I think there wouldn’t be such a problem if a dictator doesn’t come and take over after every couple of years. That contributes to backwardness and poverty,” Bilawal had said.

“Democracy is the only way out. The founder of Pakistan believed in democracy. He did not believe in dictatorship and Pakistan was not founded for that. So there shouldn’t be a dictator.”

Bilawal had also spoken passionately about the “cooked-up” corruption cases against his father.

“He is the only politician in Pakistan who has been kept behind bars for eight years. It is not only a crime against him, it is a crime against me and my family who have been robbed of our father’s company and guidance when we needed him.”

About his mother, he had said: “She tries to find time for us whenever she can. I think she is doing a good job as a mother, even though being very busy.”