Pakistan blind cricket captain “accidentally consumed phenyl

BANGALORE, INDIA : The captain of Pakistan blind cricket team, Zeeshan Abbasi, needed hospital treatment on Saturday after drinking cleaning fluid that he mistook for mineral water at his hotel in India.

Doctors examined Abbasi, a fast bowler who is leading Pakistan’s team in the Blind World Twenty-20 World Cup Cricket Tournament in the southern city of Bangalore, and pronounced him fit to play.

“The cricketer accidentally consumed phenyl” from a plastic bottle at his hotel in the city, doctor Naresh Shetty told AFP. “He mistook the phenyl bottle for a water bottle.”

Phenyl is a fluid widely used to clean and disinfect bathrooms and public spaces.

“We examined him and have administered some medicines. Abbasi is totally fit to play and has been discharged from the hospital,” Shetty said.

The 28-year-old, who made his international debut in 2000, drank the cleaning fluid, which was diluted with water, during breakfast, local media reports said.

The doctor added that police were questioning housekeeping staff about how the incident had occurred and that the hotel had apologised to the player.

Chairman Blind Cricket Council Sultan Shah called the event an accident and said it “will not become an impediment in Indo-Pak cricket relations”.

“However, what we want to know from the hotel management, who have orally apologised to us, is how such an incident happened and who is responsible for such negligence,” Shah said, according to the Press Trust of India.

Pakistan’s blind team defeated India on Friday by eight wickets in the Twenty-20 tournament.

The incident comes as India and Pakistan are gearing up to play their first cricket series since ties were broken after the deadly 2008 attacks in Mumbai.

India is to host Pakistan for two T20 internationals and three 50 over matches from December 25, beginning in Bangalore. Matches will also be held in Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata and the last game will be played in New Delhi on January 6.