Pakistan T20 for blind skipper sips phenyl accidentally

Bangalore, Dec 8 (IANS) Pakistan captain Zeeshan Abbasi, who is partially blind and leading his visually challenged team in the T20 World Cup for blind tournament here, accidentally sipped phenyl Saturday from a pet bottle thinking it was mineral water. He is out of danger now.

The freak incident came to light when Abbasi was rushed to a private hospital after he complained of sore throat while having breakfast in a star hotel where the team is staying.

“Abbasi is out of danger. He was treated as an emergency case after he was diagnosed with sore throat due to accidental consumption of white liquid soap (phenyl),” Ramaiah hospital president Naresh Shetty told reporters later.

As a precautionary measure, an endoscopy was done on Abbasi to rule out gastric erosion and all clinical tests showed he was normal subsequently.

“We discharged Abbasi in the evening after keeping in observation for four hours and finding him normal,” Shetty said.

According to the hotel management, Abbasi mistook the phenyl bottle to be mineral water, when the house-keeping staff was cleaning the dining room when the team was having breakfast.

“Abbasi has fully recovered and returned to the hotel where the teams are staying,” the Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI), which is the host and primary organiser of the tournament, said in a statement late Saturday.

Pakistan Cricket Blind Council chairman and World Cricket Blind Council president Syed Sultan Shah said the team management was satisfied with the investigation into the incident, which blamed the hotel staff for inadvertently placing the phenyl bottle in the wrong place.

“In the interest of cricket and better ties between the two countries, we have decided to move on and focus on winning the World Cup,” Shah said in the statement.

Pakistan take on Sri Lanka Sunday after thrashing arch rival India by eight wickets in a league tie Friday.

“The incident happened by oversight. Every effort is being made to take care of the participating teams from nine countries playing in the tournament,” Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled secretary G.K. Mahantesh.

IANS 2012-12-08 21:24:07