The match score sheet reads like any other cricket match score sheet. It was a thrilling night match held at the Sukkur Municipal Stadium two weeks ago, in which Sukkur Golden emerged victorious against Khairpur Silver.

Khairpur`s skipper, Savera Baloch, won the toss and elected to bat first. The team posted 59 runs in eight overs. Sonu starred for Khairpur with a dynamic knock of 25 runs, including three sixes and a four. However, Sukkur`s all-rounder Nomi Nighat turned the game around by claiming two of Khairpur`s crucial wickets.

Nomi`s team also chased down the target given to them in just five overs, losing only three wickets. Nomi shone again for Sukkur to top score with 27 runs. She was also named the `Player of the Match.

The cricketing action was followed by a lively tug-of-war contest, where Khairpur redeemed themselves by defeating Sukkur in a display of raw teamwork and strength.

From the names of the players, you may think that these were women`s competitions, but you`d be wrong.

All this action took place during the 1st Transgender Cricket Cup, organised on the directives of the provincial Sports Minister Sardar Muhammad Bux Khan Mahar.

`SPORTS FOR ALL` This year was for the first time that the Department of Youth Affairs of the Government of Sindh took an initiative to promote sports in the province under the slogan of `Khel sab ke liye` [Sports for all]. It was the slogan itself that made Muhammad Akhlaque Memon, the district sports officer for Khairpur the main person behind the 1st Transgender Cricket Cup think about it literally.

`When they say sports for all, they should mean `all`, he tells Eos over the phone from Khairpur. `I took my proposal of also involving the transgender community in sports activities to the sports ministry and was happy to get the nod from there,` he says.

The Transgender Cricket Cup was preceded by a two month training camp. The teams for the grand match were going to be selected from the players who reported to the camp.

`I had reached out to various NGOs who work with transgenders to send me the ones interested in cricket, or any other sport for that matter. There were several who were. Back in school, I also knew a few who enjoyed playing cricket. They had dropped out of school before completing class eight. I also called them to the camp,` he says.

Then came the difficult part. Memon says he had no idea then how challenging it would be to get transgenders to train and practise. `Those two months of camp with transgenders also made me understand them better. One moment they would complain that they were too tired to even sit, and the next moment they would hear some music from someone`s cell phone and get up and start dancing.

`I realised then that music was a way to get them to move. They just can`t remain still when there is music playing. I learned to use music very well during practice,` he laughs.

`But that wasn`t the only thing. They constantly make fun of each other and taunt each other, which leads to fights, emotional meltdowns and shutting each other out.

Then I would need to intervene, humour them and get them to make up again,` he says.

`On top of that, many players would miss practice because they had to perform at a wedding or some other function. To remedy that, I would give them incentives to come and practise. If they earned 2,000 or 3,000 rupees for a performance, I promised to give them a few rupees more than that from the sports department,` he explains. Besides, the department also offered them daily allowances, transportation, boarding, tracksuits and kits.

`And that`s how we found some very talented players who we were able to groom,` he shares. `It was also a learning experience for me, as I am now able to understand transgenders better and tell many of my colleagues, who laugh at me, to have a heart,` he says before going on and on about some of his star players.

He is incredibly proud of them.

`Sonu, who plays for Khairpur, and is a big hitter of the ball, looks like a pretty young girl. I tell her that she can fool anyone into thinking that she represents the national women`s cricket team,` he says. `Savera is a good leader and Nomi is a fine all-rounder,` he adds.

Savera tells Eos that she had always dreamt of playing cricket because she likes to watch the game on television.

`I used to play, too, when I was a child, but then the affairs of my life took me away from sports,` she says.

`It was recently that I heard about this opportunity to play from the NGO I work for. I wanted to see if I still had it in me to play as well as I used to when I was a kid. And I am happy to report that I could,` she says.

`Given the opportunity again, I would love to play more,` she added.

All-rounder Nomi Nighat says that she loves cricket. `I want to play more cricket but usually I don`t have anyone to play with,` she says. `Then some of my friends tell me to dress up like a man to fulfill this desire of mine. I do that often. I play very well with this or that boys` team.

But there I never reveal my real identity. This was the first time when I played as myself, a transgender person, and I was proud of it,` she gushes.

`I wish the Pakistan Cricket Board would also set up a transgender wing and look into building transgender teams. I will surely make my country proud, if that were to happen,` she says.

The writer is a member of staff X: @HasanShazia