LAHORE - Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC) chairman Syed Sultan Shah has asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman to approve their current fiscal year budget of Rs 19.9 million as last year the 35 percent deduction in budget has made it difficult for them to manage activities.
The national blind cricket team will be participating in the Blind Cricket World Cup to be held in South Africa in November this year and a special grant of Rs 6.2 million has also been included in the budget for the team's participation. Currently the blind cricketer kept in A category gets a total of Rs 12,000 monthly according to the central contract which according to their need is very less.
Sultan Shah said currently Pakistan was defending world champion and had prepared well for the upcoming event. "India and South Africa can give a tough time to Pakistan in the mega event," he added. However, the PBCC had shortlisted 30 players for the forthcoming extravaganza starting from November 25 to December 9.
The players include Idrees Saleem, M Haroon, M Waqas, M Salman, M Zafar, Israrul Hassan, Sajid Nawaz, Tariq Samuel, M Ayaz, M Afzal, M Usama, M Akram, Suhail Aziz, M Jameel, Amir Ashfaq, M Zahid, M Usman, Badar Munir, Khalid Zubair, Zeshan Gul, Zeeshan Abbasi, Rahid Ullah, Anees Javed, Faseeh Ullah, Nisar Ali, Mati Ullah, Arfan Majeed, M Arslan, Haroon Khan and Waqar Saeed. The team will be lead by Zeeshan Abbasi.