Disabled cricket team from Pakistan begins international tour

From AFP:

KARACHI, Pakistan -- A 16-man disabled Pakistani cricket team left on March 19 for matches in Malaysia and Singapore, becoming the country’s first physically challenged cricketers to embark on a foreign tour.

“We are on a history-making tour,” Salim Karim, founder and captain of the Pakistani disabled team, told AFP.

The team, cleared by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to tour, will take up invitations to play two matches in Malaysia and three in Singapore.

Karim, whose right leg withered from polio while his left was damaged in an accident, assembled a team of disabled cricketers in 2006 and has since organised two national championships, sparking country-wide interest.

“Since the formation of the disabled cricket team we have progressed beyond imagination but these two foreign tours are a huge step forward for us and now we can show the world that being disabled is no obstacle,” said Karim.

He said they have also received good response from the PCB and International Cricket Council (ICC).

“PCB has given us tremendous support and ICC has also shown great interest in our cricket, which is very thrilling,” said Karim, a successful 44-year-old businessman who funds all the team’s expenses from his own pocket.

“This team has players from all over Pakistan and before playing cricket abroad these players will first realise their dreams of boarding a plane – for the first time in their lives,” said Karim.

Farhan Saeed, an amputee who bowls with the aid of a stick and jumps on his crutches to deliver, agreed.

“I have only seen a plane in the air and today I will be on the plane to Kuala Lumpur, it’s beyond my dreams,” said Saeed.

Fellow player Mohammad Matloob said the team was on cloud nine.

“Playing cricket like normal people was the first dream realised, and now we are going to Malaysia and Singapore which we will only believe once we land there. It’s incredible,” said Ahmed, who comes from Multan in Punjab province.

Mohammad, who bats left-handed, has a polio-affected right hand. Another member of the team is Arif Masih, who is fondly called Viv Richards after West Indian maestro and has polio-affected legs.

Tour manager Amiruddin Siddiqui, a former first-class player in normal cricket, hopes the tour will open new doors.

“We have applied for PCB affiliation and once we get that we have invitations from England and the United States, so with this first-ever tour we have taken a start which will go a long way,” he said.