Cricket in Bhutan has come a long way. Bhutan winning ICC cricket for Change initiative award at the International Cricket Council conference held in London last week amongst 105 countries proves that.
But despite the sport being a proven force which provides opportunities for a huge number of youths in the country, the representative of ICC said that the importance of sporting infrastructures such as a cricket ground is yet to be fully realized.
Mohammad Iqbal Sikander, a development officer for International Cricket Council (ICC) who visits countries to see the progress of the cricket and to help further develop the sport, is currently on an assignment visit for a week in Bhutan. He was a former Pakistani cricketer who was part of the Pakistan squad that won the 1992 Cricket World Cup.
He is sacrificing some time from his busy schedule to train the young cricketers. He said he sees a lot of talent over here in the country. Yet challenges such as lack of funding for the sport and not even a small ground for Bhutan Cricket Council is what he points out.
“All can join together and make a combined effort to try and provide at least one plot of land so that Bhutan cricket can have a home base from where they can grow,” said Iqbal Sikander, a Development Officer for ICC.
He added that ICC will step in to support the development of cricket when Bhutan start supporting the sports by giving it importance and providing a base ground at the least.
“Believe me, once you have a ground of your own, we as ICC and the Asian Cricket Council will invest money into the grounds. We will try and help to develop the ground. We will try to provide you with the equipment. We will try to provide you with the groundsmen to prepare the ground and then the facilities. So we will only come in once the government’s support comes in. So without the government’s support, we cannot move forward,” he added.
He also suggested that a cricket corporate league is the best way to bring together the investors to invest in sports. As for the funds, Iqbal Sikander said this year Bhutan possibly will get a decent amount from the International Cricket Council as well as from the Asian Cricket Council for showing greater interest towards the sport.
