India and Pakistan join hands to promote cricket in China

The cricketing rivalry between India and Pakistan has been well-chronicled in the sport’s folklore and they have played many memorable and intense cricket matches over the years.

However, their camaraderie off the field hasn’t been any less popular, with the two nations often being seen going the extra mile to promote sport and harmony between themselves.

In another welcome move, India and Pakistan have joined hands to promote the game of cricket in China, their common neighbour, as reported by HT.

A country that has approximately 80,000 cricketers including 30,000 women cricketers needs to be taken care of by the International Cricket Council (ICC), and the apex body has apprised China’s neighbours of the same, during the board meeting in Dubai.

The ICC feels that it should work with the Chinese Cricket Association on a long-term basis for the development of cricket in the country.

This isn’t the first such move taken for the betterment of Chinese cricket either, as in 2009 the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had sent equipment valued at over Rs. 2 million and had also helped with critical information pertaining to the technical aspects of the game.

The Indian board had taken these steps keeping in mind the relatively ‘unknown’ status of cricket in a country passionate about Table Tennis, Badminton, Football, and Basketball.

10 new Chinese cities have been chalked out for the initiative as opposed to the three cities, namely Beijing, Shenyang, and Shanghai where the opportunities were available from March to September.

Rashid Khan, the former Pakistani international cricketer, who has been the coach of the men’s and women’s cricket teams since 2006 said, “ The game has seen massive growth at the school and college level.

“Players used to hold a bat like a baseball slugger when I came in 2006, but after the last two Asian Games, cricket has gained ground. India has helped create interest, but Pakistan has also played a role as it was the Pakistan Cricket Board which sent me to coach the national teams.”

If translated into reality, this move can really go a long way towards popularizing the sport in the world’s most populous nation, that only recently recorded its first win at an ICC global tournament, when the women’s cricket team defeated Netherlands in the ICC Women’s World T20 qualifiers held in Thailand in December last year.