here – Das Magazin. Von Geflüchteten. Für Bochum – Ausgabe 4

│Une │Cover Story │Titelgeschichte القصة الرئيسية
Kricket-Meister im zweiten Anlauf
Arfan spielt in seiner Freizeit den pakistanischen
Nationalsport – und das sehr erfolgreich
Cricket Champion in the Second Run
Arfan plays the Pakistani national sport in his
spare time and with remarkable success
Ein Leben ohne Kricket kann sich Arfan nicht vorstellen.
Seit seinem siebten Lebensjahr steht er für das Spiel auf
dem Rasen. Eine Profikarriere war in greifbarer Nähe, aber
seine Eltern bestanden auf das Studium. In seinem Heimatland
Pakistan gilt Kricket als Nationalsport. Aber auch
in Nordrhein-Westfalen gibt es eine sehr aktive Szene. In
keinem anderen Bundesland gibt es mehr Kricket-Spieler.
Mit seiner Duisburger Mannschaft hat Arfan vergangenes
Jahr die NRW-Meisterschaft gewonnen und gerade wurde
er zusätzlich in das Landes-Team berufen. Allerdings:
Wenn die Mannschaft zu einem Spiel ins Ausland reist,
darf er als Geflüchteter ohne Status nicht mitkommen.
A life without cricket Arfan cannot imagine. Since he
was seven, he practices the game on the field. A professional
career was within reach, but his parents insisted
that he begins his studies. In his home country Pakistan,
cricket is regarded as a national sport. But there
is also a very active scene in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In no other state, there are more cricket players. With
his team from Duisburg, Arfan won the NRW Championship
last year and was recently called into the state
team. However: If the team travels to a game abroad,
he is not allowed go as he is a refugee without status.
When it is Arfan’s turn in the first half of the game against
"Mülheim Cricket Club", suddenly his team starts cheering.
The 27-year-old Pakistani has hit perfectly and the
ball flies far over the field. His team receives the highest
possible score. Arfan's teammates on the field pat him
approvingly on the shoulder. The chances for a victory
in this encounter are good.
Cricket is a very complex game. The rules cannot be picked
up solely by observing the game. Even the boundary
lines of the cricket pitch are hard to spot. Small flags of
a big fast food chain serve as markings and are simply
put in the grass of the football pitch in Recklinghausen.
Most of the movement takes place in the middle of the
field where on an area of about 20 meters in length and
three meters in width the ball is thrown and beaten. In
cricket, everything revolves around the duel between
the bowler and the batsman as in baseball. There are
two rounds in which only one team can score. However,
there is no time limit: one round takes as long until all
the strikers of a team are eliminated.
At the age of seven, Arfan started playing cricket. "In
Pakistan, cricket is as popular as football in Germany."
He played in a team in his home town Sialkot, later in
the regional league. Many trophies adorn the shelves in
his room in his parents' home. Later he got an offer as a
Als Arfan in der ersten Halbzeit beim Spiel gegen den
Mülheimer Cricket Club mit dem Schlagen an der Reihe
ist, bricht plötzlich großer Jubel in seiner Mannschaft
auf. Der 27-jährige Pakistaner hat perfekt getroffen und
der Ball fliegt weit über den Spielfeldrand hinaus. Seine
Mannschaft erhält dafür die höchstmögliche Punktzahl.
Arfans Mitspieler auf dem Feld klopfen ihm anerkennend
auf die Schulter. Die Chancen für den Sieg dieser
Begegnung stehen gut.
6 here – August/September 2017 www.here-in-bochum.de