Nasir vows to revive handicapped cricket soon : Islamabad

Nasir Mehmood Chaudhry is described as the godfather of handicapped cricket, as he has done tremendous job in the promotion of handicapped cricket in general and players in particular in his short stint as director development and media Pakistan Cricket Association for Physically Handicapped (PCAPH).

 

Speaking about his contributions towards this noble cause, majority of handicapped players while sharing their views were full of respect and were very distressed after his departure from the association.

In an exclusive interview with The Nation on Monday, Nasir said: “Being a cricketer, I always want to contribute one way or the other to promote cricket in this region. I played a lot of club cricket inIslamabadand I had been a leading wicket-taker for my club for two years in row in Islamabad League. I had also been a top bowler for Asif Memorial Club for five years in running as I was awarded a cash prize of Rs 5,000 by the PCB chief Tauqeer Zia for my outstanding performances.”

“Though I was disappointed over not representing my country at international level being a part of national yet I had passion to play an active role in guiding players fromRawalpindiandIslamabadfor the national side. Just because of that hunger and desire to work for a cause, I along with other Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) friends Saeed Ahmed Bhatti, Mirza Niasr, Ashfaq Ahmed Chathha, Akhunzada Faheem, Shaikh Abdul Waheed, Raja Imran Hussain, Naveed Malik and Shabbir Ahmed joined PCAPH in 2011. In a short span of time, we managed to arrange a cricket series with Indian handicapped team in June 2012 and then invitedAfghanistanhandicapped team in July and then we went toIndiain October for return leg series,” he added.

When asked why they left PCAPH when the association was flying high, Nasir said: “They claimed the association was formed in way back in 2006, but nobody knows the PCAPH. After our arrival, the association suddenly took momentum and I must give the entire credit to The Nation, as this group really helped us in climbing such heights and gave us tremendous coverage, but after such hype, differences started to unearth. We found that some certain individuals are more focused on their personal publicity rather than giving top priority to players, who gave brilliant performances.”

Nasir said PCAPH chairman Abbas Hashmi had promised in India to hold an exhibition match on December 3, World Disabled Day in UAE, but he backed off from the promise. Indians kept on pushing and sending reminders but Hashmi was backing off from the promise and clearly said he could not arrange funds, do it yourself. It was the matter of country’s reputation which was at stake. We somehow with the active help of friends invited Indian handicapped team and organised the match in a befitting manner.

“I had paid over Rs one million for the sake of noble cause along with Ashfaq, Saeed, Faheem, Sh Waheed and others. All our efforts were not considered by the PCAPH top brass as they had other agenda. Most of the players are still in close contact with us, urging to revive handicapped cricket. Instead of recognising efforts, serious financial allegations were levelled against us. When we seek evidences, no one was ready to prove the claims,” he said.

Replying a question, Nasir said: “I will soon arrange matches as I want to continue this noble cause with the help of friends from chamber. I will soon contact players in this regard and hopefully the mission of player’s betterment and healthy activity will soon be resumed.”

Source : The Nation , 14th May 2013