Former Ranji player is appealing for his life

PUNE, JUNE 12: At a time when the world has been hazarding guesses on the amount involved in match fixing, a former cricketer from Pune ci...

PUNE, JUNE 12: At a time when the world has been hazarding guesses on the amount involved in match fixing, a former cricketer from Pune city, who represented Maharashtra state in Ranji tournaments in 67 matches, cannot muster up enough money for a kidney transplant operation.

Shaikh Mohammed Abbas Hussain represented Maharashtra from 1968 to 1976 in Ranji tournaments. He has finally been forced to appeal to the public to “donate generously” toward a fund that has been formed by some friends and well-wishers. Shaikh is suffering from a chronic tubulo-intestitial disease and chronic renal failure. He has been advised haemodialysis on a bi-weekly basis.

The approximate cost of the treatment adds up to Rs 15,000 per month. Shaikh has also been advised a live related donar transplant, which costs approximately Rs 1.50 lakh. Sums that Shaikh, currently employed with the Pune Cantonment branch of the Bank of Maharashtra, cannot afford. Shaikh has a wife and three college going sons to support as well.

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He has been able to undergo treatment since February this year due to the financial support of his friends and well-wishers. Shaikh also succeeded in finding a kidney donor; but the date of the operation depends on when he will scrape together the requiste amounts.

“Being diagnosed with kidney failure was a bolt from the blue for my family. It has been a trying time for all of us since then. The only ray of hope is the help offered by friends like former cricketers Chandu Borde and Hemant Kanitkar, who have set up the Abbas Shaikh Medical Fund to collect money for my treatment,” says Shaikh.

The Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) and the Board of Cricket Control for India (BCCI) have offered to help Shaikh, but his family members are not satisfied. “The BCCI and MCA have disappointed us as they have promised to contribute small sums which will not take us anywhere,” they say.