Faisalabad, an industrial city of Pakistan, has the honor of getting the natural and best talent for all sports from here in every era. The person who was selected by the Pakistan Physical Disability Cricket Association for the promotion of this style of cricket in Faisalabad has proved with his work, sincerity, sincere dedication and hard work for the promotion of Disability was not wrong. Before joining Disability Cricket, Wasif-ur-Rehman had made a name for himself by representing Pakistan in the Para Games and that he was already well known in the sports circles of Faisalabad for his hard work and passion for sports. Wasif-ur-Rehman himself was a physically disabled person so he could understand the difficulties of any other disabled player. That was the reason why he formed the Faisalabad Region team in a few weeks at the very beginning of Disabled Cricket and prepared it for the first National Championship 2008.
“It takes time to introduce a new game or a new version of a game and make it popular.” Wasif-ur-Rehman recalls the early days. “Thirteen years ago, when the means of communication were limited, finding disabled cricketers in and around Faisalabad was a difficult task. We used to go from village to village and look for cricketers. Wherever we get information that there is a disabled boy in some village or town who is also fond of cricket, we would go there without wasting time, meet his parents, brief them fully that Disability Cricket is now in Pakistan. And Cricket is about to start and we want your child to be a part of this cricket. Many people did not believe us and avoided us with cunning excuses, but we also kept in touch with them on a regular basis, eventually convincing them and allowing their child to play cricket.
“It’s easy to put into words the struggles of the early days, but only I or my colleagues know the difficulties we faced at that time.” Wasif-ur-Rehman smiled and started telling again. “In 2008, when the trials of disabled cricketers were held in Faisalabad, I told Amiruddin Ansari that I am a sportsman and if you give me the responsibility, I will form a team for Faisalabad region. Expressed confidence and I formed the Region team in just a few weeks as promised, no matter how hard I worked for it. Actually when you intend something, no! Then your paths become easier, and nature also helps you, since I used to play myself and I also led in the beginning of my Faisalabad region so once I formed the team There have never been any problems with the players again. ”
“The cricket frenzy in Faisalabad also made my job easier and I started getting many excellent cricketers.” Wasif-ur-Rehman, who touched the heights of determination in spite of low strength in one leg. “I have represented Pakistan in Paralympic sports. I used to participate in four to five disciplines of athletics. All the educational institutions and sports circles in Faisalabad know how much I am passionate about sports. Although I am disabled, I have given tough time to normal athletes in athletics and other sports at university level and at my district and region level. I have dozens of Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. I used to give examples that it never gives up, this habit of mine helped me a lot to promote Disability Cricket not only in Faisalabad but also in Pakistan and now the result is in front of you. In the early days, the step-by-step guidance of Amiruddin Ansari, the Secretary of PPDCA helped me a lot in achieving my goals. (to be continued )
The Pakistan Disabled Cricket Association (PDCA) is responsible for the promotion and expansion of the game through its associate and affiliate members throughout the country for all the Physically Disabled Cricketers of the country and PDCA is also recognized by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) who is the governing body of cricket in Pakistan.