19 February 2004	Thursday	27 Zilhaj 1424

LAHORE, Feb 18: Captain of Indian blind cricket team Mavender Singh said on Wednesday that a successful tour of Pakistan would send an encouraging message to the senior squad.

Talking to journalists after arriving in Lahore to play a five- matchseries, Mavender saidthat terrorism was a challenge for the entire world and was not confined to India or Pakistan only.

"We can't do any creative work if we will not moveforward setting aside security problems," he said. The captain said that his side was well preparedforthe series. His team lost the World Cup final toPakistan inIndia, last year, but this time they were optimistic to win.

Theteam will play its first match at GaddafiStadium on Friday. Back-to-back matches will be played in Karachi on Sunday and Tuesday. The fourth tie is scheduled to be be heldatSheikhupuraStadium on Feb 27 and thelastatPindi Stadium on Feb 29.

Chairman of the Indian Blind Cricket Council, George Abraham, is also accompanying the team.

Team: Manvener Singh (captain), Vishal Kumar (vice-captain), Manjnad, Shekher Naik, Nanajee, Nirmal Kumar, Gurpreet Singh, Amandeep AshishNaigi, Rajesh Singh, Randher Singh, Malika Urjan, Pushprach, Rajinder Verma.

Officials: Adey Guptey (coach), Chandershekhar (assistant coach), Amarjeet Singh (manager), Navroze Dhondi (marketing consultant), Siddharth Sharma (public relation officer).