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The Demonstration match played between Bangladesh Green Team & Bangladesh Red Team after the break of Bangladesh Vs Australia Odi Series 2011  in Sher-e-Bangla National Stadiam, Mirpur.




Young blind cricket fans in Bangladesh are introduced to a slightly modified form of the sport tailored especially for them. Let's learn more about this up-and-coming sport.

Wearing dark glasses under a beating sun a group of cricketers in downtown Dhaka look like any other enthusiasts in the cricket-mad city.

But the young team are not just whacking balls far into the distance, they're making history as the first blind sportsmen to take up the game in Bangladesh.

As it flies through the air the batsmen and fielders track and react to the ringing sound of bells. A special white plastic ball has bells inside to alert batsmen and fieldsmen on each team. Teams are made up of four totally blind and seven partially sighted players.

Bowlers shout "play!" just before throwing the ball underarm.

16 year-old Abid Hossain is one of 33 participants. He lost his sight when he was five years-old after contracting typhoid.

[Abid Hossain, Blind Cricket Player]: (male, bengali)
"I am a blind student. I never thought that I would be a cricket player. When I came to know that there was a camp for blind people to learn how to play cricket I joined and now I am feeling very good. My goal is to become a good cricket player and one day I will play for Bangladesh to bring pride for the country."

Almost a dozen countries around the world now play the slightly-adapted game, played with a standard bat on a field that is two-thirds the size of a normal wicket. At the moment Pakistan is the World Cup title-holder. Over there, matches have been held for more than ten years.




Dhaka, May 3(ANI): Young blind cricket fans in Bangladesh have been introduced to a slightly modified version of the sport for the first time. Sporting dark glasses, this group of over 30 cricketers gathered in downtown Dhaka to attend a two-week training course run by the National Association of Sports for the Persons with Disability (NASPD). The playing expertise is being provided by the Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC).




                                      Rules of the game
It is played in a dozen other countries and was invented in Australia in 1922. Its basic rules are the same as regular cricket but there are some key differences. Firstly the two teams need to have the same balance of players who are completely blind and those who, like Hafizur, can see to a certain extent.
That means that, while a blind player will bat, bowl or throw the ball entirely by himself when he is running or looking for the ball, he can be helped and guided by team mates with slighter better vision.
Then there is the ball itself. It looks like a normal white cricket ball but it is softer and lighter, and it rattles.
The bowlers bowl underarm. They roll the ball along the ground towards the batsman who then, when he hears it, has to hit it as hard as he can.
The game then moves along at a surprisingly fast pace.
The match I saw was as noisy and as competitive as any I have seen on the subcontinent, where cricket is by far the most popular sport.

Lack of space
In Bangladesh the challenge for anyone wanting to play - whether they are blind or not - is to find somewhere to do so.
Half the country spends several months of every year under water. Every available bit of over-crowded land is built on, lived on or farmed, so people just get used to playing where they can.
The blind cricketers are luckier.
They have been playing at one of the few private cricket grounds in Dhaka but, even so, they have had to contend with a water-logged and bumpy pitch.
It is expensive to play here as well, and they need sponsors to continue.
The star batsman of the green team - which lost this game to Hafizur's reds - is Abdul Nayeem Mamoon.
The 24-year-old is completely blind. He is a student at Dhaka University.
When he is there, and also when he is on the cricket pitch, he is helped by his partially sighted friend, Shumon.
Both played badly this time, neither - as the commentators say - troubling the scorers.
But they share Hafizur's determination to do well.
"It doesn't matter who wins and who loses," Nayeem says, "we've never been able to play sport before. If I receive the right training, I know I can overcome every barrier. Being visually impaired is not a big deal."
But the truth is that in Bangladesh having any kind of disability certainly is a big deal.

'Marginalised'
A disabled or blind child is often seen as being a terrible burden on a family. They are less likely to be put through school, get a job and start their own family, than others.
Most people, as it is, find it hard to earn a living. The price of a kilogram of rice, the staple food, has doubled in the past year but wages have not changed.
It is common for blind people to become beggars or buskers.
"The life of a disabled person is a struggle. They are the most marginalised people," says Musharaff Hossein, of the charity Action on Disability and Development, which has helped introduce blind cricket to Bangladesh.
Musharaff, who had polio as a child and walks with crutches, hopes to organise a blind cricket league, as well as the national team.
The idea is to show other Bangladeshis what visually impaired people are capable of achieving and then give them something to cheer on.
"Disabled people also want to contribute," he says, "and make the world enjoyable for all."