KARACHI, Aug 10: Speakers at a function said that if God deprives somebody of one faculty , He always makes up for it with some other capability that makes life easier.

Speaking at the prize distribution ceremony of the three-day All Karachi Independence Day Cricket Tournament of the Blind at the Ida Rieu School and College for the Blind and Deaf here on Saturday, they said that seeing those visually impaired boys play cricket, it was difficult to realize that they were handicapped as they were playing like normal players.

The visually impaired people play cricket with a ball that is filled with bells. When the bowler pushes the ball along the ground towards the batsman it makes a continuous noise and the batsman hearing the noise hits it. The fielders, listening to the noise that the ball makes, field it and throw it back to the wicket keeper or at the bowler’s end. The batsmen also make runs guessing through the noise where the ball is.

Nadira Panjwani, philanthropist, was the chief guest on the occasion. She said it was nice to see that the Ida Rieu School was giving due importance to the sports activities of the inmates.

She said that she was impressed by the coordination that those players had between their sense of hearing and the body movement.

“It was amazing to see how the batsman heard the sound of the ball and hit it and how the fielders, by listening to the sound of the ball, fielded and threw it to the wicket-keeper or at the bowler’s end and how they held it”, she said.

Noted artist and social worker Jimmy Engineer, who organized the tournament, urged the government to reserve some time in news bulletins to highlight the news relating to the handicapped people. He urged the philanthropists to come forward and do whatever they could to assist the organizations that were trying to provide assistance to handicapped children.

Mahar Alvi and Qudsia Khan of the Ida Rieu School also spoke on the occasion. Later, Ms Punjwani distributed prizes among the winners. The Ida Rieu School team won the tournament and its captain Raheel Zeeshan got the trophy. The runners-up trophy was given to Riaz Memon, captain of the team of the Pakistan Association of the Blind Riaz. Pir Hussain was adjudged the man of the tournament and given a prize.