News

Volume 3 Issue 9 - May 01, 2005

Blind cricketers from India and Pakistan meet in five-match series

DNIS News Network - The A.C.B.I. organised a five-day cricket match series for visually impaired cricketers from India and Pakistan.

After the recent Indo-Pak one-day international series comes another cricket series. Blind teams from the two countries have started the battle for the Petro Cup on cricket pitches in New Delhi. The series involves five one-day matches and will be held in various school and college grounds from 28 April to 5 May, 2005. Organised by the Association for Cricket for the Blind in India (A.C.B.I.), this series is a reciprocal tour to India’s visit to Pakistan in February last year. India had then lost the series 1-4.

A.C.B.I. has a 16-member squad comprising four blind, three partially blind and four partially sighted category players. The matches will be held at Jamia Milia Islamia (28 and 30 April), Modern School Barakhamba Road (2 May), Bhagat Singh College (4 May) and DAV College (5 May). A.C.B.I. Chairman, George Abraham said the series against Pakistan would help build up a team for the next World Cup to be held in Cape Town (South Africa) in 2006.

Abraham added that after the recent recognition for World Blind Cricket Council by the International Cricket Council, A.C.B.I. was hoping for a similar move from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (B.C.C.I.).

The winning team will receive Rs 1 lakh and the losers will get Rs 50,000. “We are not looking at it (cash awards) as a professional opportunity. We are looking at this tournament as an avenue to develop the game and build awareness about blind cricket,” Abraham said.

The Pakistan team is being captained by Abdul Razzaaq; the Indian team is being led by Manvendar Singh and coached by Uday Gupta. The other team members include Rajender Varma, Ketan Patel, Kishan Chaurey, Thomas Abraham, Subhash Bhoya, Satbir Singh, Ashish Negi, P Ganesh, Hiorjeet, Jose Shibu Fernandes, Shekhar Naik, Nirmal Kumar, Ganesh Gavit, Manjunath and Dinesh Kumar.

The latest tally stands at 2-0 in favour of India. For the latest news, log in to www.eyeway.org