Bangladesh cricket players practice with school students at Eden Gardens

Kolkata: Ahead of their World Cup match against The Netherlands, Bangladesh cricket players led by their captain Shakib-Al Hasan had a net session here at the Eden Gardens with 20 boys and girls from various city schools, two of whom were hearing and speech impaired.

Bangladesh will play their next tie against The Netherlands at the iconic stadium on Saturday.

Under an initiative of the ICC and UNICEF, players from the neighbouring country played and interacted with the students who play cricket and are fans of Bangladeshi cricketers like Shakib-Al Hasan, Litton Das, Mahmudullah Riyad and Mustafizur Rahman, a UNICEF release said.

The Bangladesh star players were seen imparting tips to the students on how to bowl, bat and field.

“I’m too glad to meet Litton Das whom we have seen playing in the Kolkata Knight Riders team in the IPL. We shook hands with him and took pictures. It’s like a dream come true to play with these international cricketers,” said Krrish Manick, one of the participants.

ICC and UNICEF’s ‘Cricket4good’ initiative brought the players to advocate messages to #BeAChampion through equality between girls and boys and on life skills, to help them become confident, work together and pursue an equal world.

Student Sneha Mondal said after the brief practice session, “It felt good to have played with the icons. I felt on a par with them.”

“Good communication among the team members in any field matters a lot. We have to go hand-in-hand with others as a team and bring victory,” said Tanisha who plays cricket.

Shuvam Rajwar, a speech and hearing-impaired boy, said with the help of an interpreter that this practice was useful to learn how to play in a team during a match. “I learnt to negotiate and take decisions with my team members,” he said.