good posting. thank you. where can the latest news of indian blind cricket team can be found? i'm looking for those.
with warm regards, Anirban Mukherjee On 12/9/11, shahnaz <[email protected]> wrote: > > Pakistan's Cricketers Rule the Blind Game > By > NICOLAS BRULLIARD > > LAHORE, Pakistan –Abdul Razzaq is one of the most decorated players in > international cricket. When he's been captain, his team hasn't lost a > tournament > since 2002. He is a two-time world champion and holds several world records > in the game. And he's never seen cricket being played. > > [iblind12014] > > Members of Pakistan's blind cricket team practiced on the eve of their > anticipated match against India in Lahore. > > Mr. Razzaq, who has been visually impaired since birth, is the captain of > his nation's blind cricket team. His squad, ranked No. 1 in the world, faced > second-ranked > India last month in a series of matches in Lahore and Islamabad in a rare > confrontation at the top of the sport. The two teams had not met since > Pakistan > topped India in the World Cup of blind cricket five years ago. > > Blind cricketers rely on audio cues to throw, hit and dive for the ball with > uncanny precision. Players count on the voices of their teammates to orient > themselves on the field, and bowlers are required to vocally warn batsmen > when they're about to pitch the ball. Blind cricket uses a bearings-filled > plastic > ball that rattles like a maraca, allowing players to locate it as it bounces > on the ground. > > "The listening of the blind person should be very good because 70% of the > performance depends on listening skills," Mr. Razzaq said. "But your body > should > also be like a sportsman's body." > > Despite being the world's sixth most populous nation, Pakistan hardly > qualifies as an athletic powerhouse. The country counts just 10 Olympic > medals – almost > all of them in field hockey. Its domination of squash is a thing of the > past, and the successes of its sighted cricket team have been overshadowed > recently > by a match-fixing scandal. > > But when it comes to blind cricket, Pakistan is the undisputed king. > > After finishing runner-up in the first World Cup in 1998, Pakistan won the > next two including the last one in 2006. Since then, the Pakistanis have > thumped > every team that crossed their path. > > Most blind cricket connoisseurs inside and outside Pakistan attribute the > country's success to its strong infrastructure. The Pakistan Blind Cricket > Council, > whose motto is "We are blind, but we are playing with visionary spirit," > organizes several national tournaments a year, and players on the > international > squad are semi-professionals who receive a monthly stipend of $90 to $130. > > Blind cricket traces its origins to the 1920s in Australia when blind people > listening to a cricket series on the radio decided to give it a go. The game > was introduced to Pakistan in the 1960s when it was played with a ball made > of wicker filled with bottle caps. An experiment in the 1970s with metal > balls > was short-lived. > > "We made metal balls with steel, but it was very dangerous," said Syed > Sultan Shah, the chairman of Pakistan's blind cricket council. "There were > many injuries." > > There are a few minor adjustments to the rules, mostly around bowling, which > has to be done underarm, for instance. The result is a fluid game where the > trick for the batsman is to send the ball flying to make it harder for the > opposing team's fielders. > > "It is difficult to catch the ball, because when the ball is in the air > there is no sound available," said Mohammed Jafar Iqbal, a newcomer on the > Indian > team. > > Blind cricket has avoided the kind of corruption that plagues the sighted > game, most notably with the recent jailing in the U.K. of three Pakistani > cricketers. > They were found guilty in a British court of corruption charges relating to > attempting to fix a 2010 match against England. Still, blind cricket hasn't > completely steered clear of controversy. > > [SB10001424052970204770404577083381154485826] > > Nicolas Brulliard > > Pakistan blind cricket batsman Masood Jan prepares to hit the ball in their > first match against India. Jan holds the record for the highest individual > score > in a World Cup match. > > Blind cricket players are classified into categories according to the > severity of their disability. This matters because an 11-member team is > required to > count at least four players who have no sight at all, and the scores posted > by those players count double. It turns out some blind players are not as > blind > as they say. > > "People do fake medical certificates, and it's a major challenge," said > George Abraham, the Indian founding chairman of the World Blind Cricket > Council, > in a telephone interview. "It's like doping at the Olympics." > > The issue peaked in 2008 during England's tour of Australia when one of the > blind English players was deemed suspiciously adept by an Australian fan. > England > denied that anything was amiss, but the affair has not been forgotten in > Australia. > > "It has been an issue," said Graham Coulton, the former manager of > Australia's blind cricket team, said in a telephone interview from Perth, > Australia. > "Some countries don't think so, but Australia does. We're hoping England > will do, too." > > In the wake of the Australia-England dispute, cricket authorities who govern > the game decided to require completely blind players to wear black-out > glasses > during play. > > Pakistan's biggest issue has been finding opponents to play. The last World > Cup, originally scheduled for this year, was scuttled for lack of funds, and > Pakistani cricketers were denied visas to England on concerns that the > players would bolt once they stepped on English soil – a claim Pakistan > deemed ridiculous. > > Also, teams haven't exactly been lining up to come to Pakistan. Since a > March 2009 armed attack on the Sri Lankan sighted cricket team during a > visit to > Lahore, only Nepal's blind cricketers have dared make the trip. > > So it was with much anticipation that Pakistan prepared to welcome India > recently. Mr. Razzaq said he was confident but warned his teammates of > India's > "slim and fast" players. He also donned another player's jersey for the > final practice to hide his identity and confuse any Indian spies. > "Everything is > possible here," he chuckled. > > Indian coach Ramakant Satam said that Pakistani officials "welcomed us very > warmly" but the competition was hot as the series opened in Lahore. > > At one of the eastern Pakistani city's historic cricket grounds, hundreds of > spectators congregated around the oval field. The Pakistani and Indian teams > sported green and sky-blue outfits, respectively, but most of those in > attendance – bused in from the region's blind schools – listened rather than > watched. > With Pakistan batting first, India kept the hosts' score low through > efficient bowling and fielding – including a rare aerial catch by jubilant > Indian > captain Shekhar Naik. Mr. Shah, the head of Pakistan's blind cricket > council, followed the match anxiously on the sidelines. "This is not a good > score," > he said of Pakistan's performance. > > After a mandatory cup of sugary and milky tea at halftime, Pakistan's > players did an even better job at containing their opponents' offense and > won the > match with a comfortable margin. Pakistan easily won the six-game series > five to one, registering only one defeat over a disputed interpretation of > the > rules. > > Mr. Razzaq declared himself satisfied that Pakistan had once again > demonstrated its superiority despite stronger-than-usual opposition. He is > planning to > retire following the next World Cup in December 2012 in Bangalore, India, > where he once again predicts Pakistan will emerge triumphant. "Of course, > winning > is a good habit," he said with a smile. > > > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > [email protected] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
