TIKA launches cricket training facility for girls

Training nets set up at SMB Fatima Jinnah school, cricket team given kits and equipment

KARACHI: The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), Turkey's state-run aid agency, launched a cricket training facility for girls at the SMB Fatima Jinnah Government Girls School in Karachi on Friday.

The cricket training nets were inaugurated at the school by former national cricket team captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, TIKA's Karachi coordinator Ibrahim Katirci and Shehzad Roy, the head of Zindagi Trust, which has adopted the school. TIKA also provided professional cricket kits and equipment to the cricket team and donated electronic equipment to the SMB Fatima Jinnah school and Khatoon-e-Pakistan Government Girls School to promote digital literacy among the students.

Ahmed expressed his appreciation for the initiative, which he said would provide better training opportunities for female cricketers. "The young people of Pakistan have a huge talent. The only thing we need is to explore that," he said.

Turkish aid agency promotes sport among girls in Pakistan

Meanwhile, Katirci, calling the facility a gift from the Turkish people to the youth of Pakistan, said that they had established it to promote a sport that is a national passion in Pakistan.

Roy said that Zindagi Trust aimed to transform the lives of thousands of children by providing them with better educational opportunities and environments. "With the help of TIKA and the people of Turkey, we are taking a step forward in providing new opportunities for female cricketers," he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2019.