It will be historic as the stage is set to hold a blind women’s cricket tournament for the first time in Pakistan. The tournament, which is scheduled to take place next month in Islamabad, will feature blind women cricketers from across the country.

Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC) Chairman Sultan Shah is confident for the success of the Blind Women’s Cricket Championship

The event will take place from March 8 to 13, where teams from Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad will compete for the glory.

The tournament will be played on a single league basis, followed by a final. The league matches will be played at Shalimar Ground in Islamabad, while the all-important final will be hosted by National Cricket Ground F-7.

“The women’s championship will have teams comprising three categories, just like how it is done in the men’s game,” explained Shah. “Each team will have four players in the B1 category, three players in the B2 category, and four players in the B3 category in the playing XI.”

The B1 category includes players who are completely blind. Players in the B2 category are partially blind, called partially blind. Meanwhile, the B3 category consists of partial viewing players, called partially sighted.

According to the head of the PBCC, the girls are very excited about the national championship, adding that women cricketers have submitted applications from across the country in numbers.

Shah further shared that camps were set up in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Abbottabad, and Faisalabad for the event, which yielded an overwhelming response. “About 100 girls from all over the country came to the camp, and the presence of 100 girls is a big thing,” he maintained.

Shah, who led Pakistan to the final of the first-ever blind cricket World Cup in 1998, is responsible for founding women’s blind cricket in Pakistan, also he can also be accredited for giving the world the concept of cricket for visually impaired women.

He came up with the idea of ​​women’s blind cricket in 2017 and launched it in association with the Australian High Commission and other sponsors. The response was overpowering.

In 2018, Pakistan started blind women’s camp and a year later, Nepal’s team visited the country to play the first-ever women’s blind cricket series of the world. The home side lost the campaign by 4-0, but it gave birth to a new idea.

Seeing Pakistan, women’s blind cricket started in other parts of the world like India, South Africa and New Zealand and now it is being played in almost all the major cricket playing countries.

“It was not easy to start women’s blind cricket,” he stated. “There were numerous challenges such as getting permission from their parents, other social issues like girls like making arrangements for their travelling, arranging a guide for girls, etc.”

As per Shah, blind women’s cricket costs a lot as the players need special facilities, safe and calm environment, grounds close to their locality and similar things like these.

‘’PBCC will do whatever they can for women’s blind cricket,” he said, adding that they tried to have women coaches on board but the experiment was not successful.

He maintained that roping in a male coach helped girls learn significantly about the game.

“Currently, both men and women are on the coaching staff. The coaches will also be trained under the supervision of international coaches in the upcoming tournament that to be held in Islamabad,’’ he shared.

The pioneer of women’s blind cricket in the country expressed his wish to send the national team to the World International Blind Games 2023, which will be held in 2023.

“Blind men’s and women’s cricket are also included [in the event]. If we can form a strong team by then, Pakistan’s women’s blind cricket will also participate in the Games,” he said. “But it will cost a lot of money, you have to make arrangements for boarding, accommodation and travel yourself.”

The former blind cricket team captain believes that the Men-in-Green are well-reputed in the sport for the visually impaired cricketers.

“Pakistan women blind players will also make a name for themselves in the world,” he said.

Meanwhile, Aqsa Arif, a player of the Pakistan blind women’s team, stated that she learned a lot by playing cricket, got to see a new culture, went to new places and made new friends where he made new friends.

Aqsa, hailing from Multan, had weak eyesight since her childhood, however, she loved basketball as a kid. Unfortunately, the youngster lost her eyesight gradually and got completely visually impaired.

Still, she was determined. She had lost her sight but not her determination as she decided to pursue education

“I completed my education in a special school and got admission in Applied English Language in Kennard College, where I got an opportunity to play cricket,” she recalled. “When I got the opportunity, I thought that maybe I can get something out of the game. I gave trials and got selected.”

The 24-year-old bowling all-rounder, who is in the B1 category means completely blind, said it was difficult for her in the beginning, but after some time, she started enjoying the game.

Her family didn’t have many complaints regarding her pursuing the sport as they knew she love sports. However, it was easier for her to play these games when she was a student, but now as she is employed in the public sector, it has become challenging for her.

The budding bowling all-rounder says that she learned to be patient and persistent by her experience in the playground and that you have to work hard to ensure success.

Aqsa highlighted that Pakistan need sponsors for blind women’s cricket, adding that she has friends in the US, UK, and Australia who want to take part in sports.

“There are many players but there are no sponsors so blind women’s cricket is not really taking off,” she shared.