Cricketers bat against polio

Dubai: India and Afghanistan's cricketers went head-to-head for the first time at the ICC World Twenty20 Cup in the West Indies on Saturday, but off the field, the teams joined forces to "Bowl Out Polio" in India and Afghanistan — two of only four countries remaining in the world battling the transmission of this crippling virus.

Indian batsman Suresh Raina and Afghanistan captain Nowroz Mangal exchanged "Bowl Out Polio" cricket bats autographed by members of each team to show regional solidarity to eliminate the polio virus from India and Afghanistan.

"It is our obligation as athletes to make sure every child has the opportunity to run and to play," Raina said.

While most of the world has been polio-free for years, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Nigeria remain the only countries that have never stopped polio virus transmission.

Progress is being made, particularly in India, where the most dangerous type 1 wild poliovirus (WPV1) has not been reported in the polio-endemic states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in a record five months.

Afghanistan also has been free of WPV1 since January 8.

"India is very close to becoming polio-free," Karin Hulshof, Unicef representative in India, said.