‘It was total negligence’: V Rajanna

Zeeshan Abbasi, captain of the Pakistan cricket team for the blind, allegedly consumed soap solution kept on the breakfast table at the hotel where he is staying, mistaking it for drinking water.

“I can’t understand why the hotel staff kept detergent liquid near a partially blind cricketer. Even a person with full vision could have picked up the bottle by mistake, if it was kept near him,” said State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities K.V. Rajanna.

He was reacting to the incident on Saturday in which Zeeshan Abbasi, captain of the Pakistan cricket team for the blind, allegedly consumed soap solution kept on the breakfast table at the hotel where he is staying, mistaking it for drinking water. He was rushed to M.S. Ramaiah Hospital and was discharged about seven hours later.

“The cricketers need a helper with them at all times. Either the hotel staff or the team management need to take care of them. It is total negligence on the part of [both of them],” Mr. Rajanna added.

‘Embarassing’

Meanwhile, G.K. Mahantesh, vice-president of the World Blind Cricket Council and founder of Samarthanam, which is organising the tournament, described the incident as “shocking and embarrassing”. “All players are important to us. It doesn’t matter if he is from Pakistan or any other country.”

Asked about speculation that Mr. Abassi may have been targeted by miscreants following his team’s thumping victory over India on Friday, Mr. Mahantesh said: “I don’t think so. It was a good match. Both teams played well and everybody enjoyed themselves.”