Five -day long ICRC T20 cricket for the people with physical disability has started in Dhaka on Sunday amidst festivity.
Duronto Lalmonirhat, a team hailing from the northern district Lalmonirhat, beat ARDRID Physically Challenged Cricket team from Dhaka in the opening match by four wickets. Tipu from Duronto Lalmonirhat became the man of the match taking three crucial wickets and scoring 19 runs.
Batting first, the ARDRID team scored 126 runs losing all wickets; while chasing the target, the opposition side Duronoto Lalmonirhat scored 129 runs keeping six wickets in hand.
Earlier a short opening held where Walter Jeanty, ICRC acting head of delegation, Ian Martin, head in disability cricket of England and Walsh Cricket board, A E M Kawser, game development manager and in charge of high performance, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), Dr. Asim Sarker, Provost, Jagannath Hall, University of Dhaka and former national cricketer Javed Omar Belim graced the event and encouraged the players with their inspiring words.
The tournament is part of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)’s endeavor to promote social inclusion through sports, aiming to highlight skills and efforts of physical challenged cricketers, helping them reintegrate into the mainstream society gradually.
Six teams comprising of disabled players are scheduled to compete in two groups for the trophy. The final match will be held on Thursday, 21 December.
People with clear and visible physical challenges/disabilities and having a sound knowledge of the game are participating in the tournament to showcase their talents. However, players with intellectual disability, visual & hearing impairments, minor amputation, fracture, wheelchair user, balance & coordination problems were discouraged to attend due to high risk of re-injuries.
ICRC believes sport can help reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with disabilities, as it can transform community attitudes about physically challenged people by highlighting their skills and aptitudes reducing the tendency to see the disability instead of the person.
Hence, ICRC together with its partners promotes sport activities that allow disabled people to receive opportunity to be as active as non-disabled people.
