Pak-India cricket: Disabled players’ training session comes to close

After losing the home series, team hopes to beat India in three-match tour.

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistani cricket team may not have provided much of a contest against archrivals India in a recent match in the World T20 tournament, but its physically-challenged cricketers are aiming to turn the tables.

At the conclusion of a 10-day training session at Shalimar Cricket Ground on Saturday, the team that is leaving for the neighbouring country for a three-match T20 series, scheduled to start on October 11, is hopeful of a positive results.

The training session was organised by the Pakistan Cricket Association for Physically Handicapped (PCAPH) and Australian High Commissioner Peter Heyward was the chief guest at the closing ceremony.

Abbas Hashmi, chairman of PCAPH, told The Express Tribune this will be the first time the disabled cricket team will be playing in India. “Morale of the team is very high because this is the first tour of a neighbouring country. We are hopeful that the team will perform well,” he added

Team captain Muhammad Fiaz, a left-arm medium pacer, said the team is prepared for the series, because for the last two months training sessions were held in different parts of the country, concluding with a match against non-disabled cricketers from Mashal School’s team. “In July this year, India defeated us on our turf. Now we hope to beat them on theirs,” he added.

Team coach Chaudhry Tahir was also full of hope. “We have selected good talent from across the country and during the training sessions, a balanced team emerged,” he said.

In the concluding training session, the disabled team played against Mashal Model School students. The school in Bari Imam, Noorpur Shahan, is run by educationist Zeba Hussain in collaboration with the Australian High Commission.

“The main objective of the event is to engage our students in extracurricular activities and over 50 students joined the training camp,” Hussain said. Giving details about the school, she said it is providing education to 420 children from underprivileged backgrounds.

High Commissioner Heyward said, “I believe this is the best way to promote cricket for the physically- challenged in the country because Pakistan has huge talent.” He also emphasised the need to hone academic skills in school, before going on to play cricket with the team members.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2012.