Anna Chan:
Young blind cricket fans in Bangladesh are introduced to a slightly modified form of the sport tailored especially for them. Let's learn more about this up-and-coming sport.

Wearing dark glasses under a beating sun a group of cricketers in downtown Dhaka look like any other enthusiasts in the cricket-mad city.

But the young team are not just whacking balls far into the distance, they're making history as the first blind sportsmen to take up the game in Bangladesh.

As it flies through the air the batsmen and fielders track and react to the ringing sound of bells. A special white plastic ball has bells inside to alert batsmen and fieldsmen on each team. Teams are made up of four totally blind and seven partially sighted players.

Bowlers shout "play!" just before throwing the ball underarm.

16 year-old Abid Hossain is one of 33 participants. He lost his sight when he was five years-old after contracting typhoid.

[Abid Hossain, Blind Cricket Player]: (male, bengali)
"I am a blind student. I never thought that I would be a cricket player. When I came to know that there was a camp for blind people to learn how to play cricket I joined and now I am feeling very good. My goal is to become a good cricket player and one day I will play for Bangladesh to bring pride for the country."

Almost a dozen countries around the world now play the slightly-adapted game, played with a standard bat on a field that is two-thirds the size of a normal wicket. At the moment Pakistan is the World Cup title-holder. Over there, matches have been held for more than ten years.