Men, women play together to raise funds for schoolgirls cricket

KARACHI: Men and women played cricket together for the first time in the 134-year history of Karachi Gymkhana on February 21 to raise funds for schoolgirls in Pakistan.

Australian journalist and social media personality Dennis Freedman teamed up with female-founded platform KheloKricket to attempt to bridge the gap in opportunity for women’s cricket in the country.

Dennis Freedman had tears in his eyes as he narrated what the day’s events meant to him. “I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of today, to give back to a country I have fallen in love with and above all to be able to create some form of positive impact for the girls and the sport we all love,” he said.

KheloKricket has been diligently working on the development of women’s cricket for the past four years. Hadeel Obaid, the founder, said: “I see a positive trend, an uptick of acceptance in women in sports and we hope to build on that momentum and keep it going.”

National team players Kainat Imtiaz and Maham Tariq said that events like these would create awareness and encourage more women to adopt sports as a profession. Kainat said that Pakistan has all the talent but lack of opportunity has resulted in a lot of talent being wasted.

Cricket fans watching online sent their donations with all proceeds going to buying cricket equipment for school girls. Given the lack of funding and infrastructure for women cricketers in the country, the aim is to make women’s cricket teams in schools a norm and not a novelty, said the organisers.

FemGames by Azhar Mahmood, a UK-based organisation focused on increasing female participation in sports, and sports management company Magnus Sports also supported the initiative.