June 17, 2017 by admin

Fasting and cricket in the days of Ramazan

Birmingham, Playing the game in the days of Ramazan in the UK is extremely challenging for Muslim cricketers who observe the day-long fast; it’s extremely challenging even on the days when they’re not playing competitively and are “only” practising. To fast on a day you’re playing an international game is infinitely more difficult.
Moeen Ali is one cricketer who’s been observing the Ramazan fast, which lasts 29 or 30 days, during which he doesn’t eat or drink anything after sunrise and before sunset. These days the sun rises at around 4:45am and sets at around 9:20pm here.
Moeen does it on match days too if he’s playing in Birmingham — imagine not having a morsel of food or a drop of water for up to 19 hours, at a time when you’re playing at the highest level of the sport.
In the UK, the challenge is extreme in the summer when the sunlight — very faint early morning or late evening, sharp during the day — can last up to 19 hours. This year, the Ramazan fasting hours are the longest in the UK in 33 years because the month of fasting overlaps the summer solstice. Ramazan fasting started on May 27 and is expected to end on June 24.
England’s Ali
Playing in his hometown Birmingham, the austerely, deeply religious Moeen observes the Ramazan fast very strictly — on days of practice, and on match days too. He accepts the Islamic relaxation of skipping the fast when he’s travelling more than 30 miles out of his hometown.
He fasted on June 10, when he played against Australia here. He bowled only five overs but was spared some exhaustion in the second part of the day because he did not need to bat. Fortunately, it was overcast and rainy, and Moeen may not have suffered much due to the lack of food and drink.
Despite the Islamic relaxation on observing the fast while on a journey, most cricketers from Bangladesh and Pakistan have been fasting on non-match days in the UK, according to the spokespersons of the two teams. “Almost all of them have been fasting on days when they’re not playing,” says a Pakistan team insider. “They’ve been fasting even on the days they’ve been practising.”
It’s mental
Moeen’s father Munir Ali says craving for food or pangs of hunger, it’s all in the mind. He says his son’s mental toughness allows him to easily forget the hunger and focus on playing the game.
“He’s mentally very, very strong. I remember, once he was playing for Worcestershire in a county match in the month of Ramazan, and he was fasting,” says Munir. “If I remember right, he got 70-80 runs when batting, and then he bowled too.”
“It was very tough for him,” says Munir. “Then he broke his fast, and he said that he was quite drained out. But while he was praying, he said he had the energy. He was able to do it. But when he had come off the field, he felt very, very tired and exhausted.”
Amateur’s fast
We met Mohammad Raheel, a big, strapping lad of 20 in London. He’s a fast bowler who had to give up the game due to an injury he suffered while playing rugby. He was obviously quite promising — he’d played for the two London-headquartered county teams, Surrey and Middlesex, in Under-21 category.
Raheel says that when he fasted while playing cricket, he had an advantage — the days were cooler and shorter. “I remember we had 12 hours of daylight, so the fasting time was lesser,” says Raheel. But it still was very difficult.
“It takes a lot out of you,” says Raheel, now studying to be an architect. “When you’re young, you’re very keen to do it — when I was 17, I wanted to keep the fast, and play hard and bowl fast and be on the field all the time. But then I realised that you’ve got to be smart about it.”
That realisation came after advice from an older guy, all of 19 himself. “He’d fasted and played simultaneously in the past,” says Raheel. “He told me that it was necessary to take breaks, go out of the field and rest in the shade or in a cool place.” His teammates chipped in to help. “So I was put in to field in places where I didn’t have to run too much,” adds Raheel. “But I’d feel very drained. Praying did help to boost my confidence, though.”
Raheel says when he was playing, it wasn’t very common to see players on fast; it was more common to see players who started observing the fast and then gave up in a hurry.
Ali’s method
How does a professional cricketer cope with the loss of fluid, the exhaustion after playing while fasting. Moeen doesn’t do anything out of the ordinary, says Munir.
“After play, he’d eat normally, he’d drink a lot of water in the evening after breaking the fast,” Munir says. “And he’d pray. He’d probably not sleep until 1am, and then he’d be up again at 2am for the early morning meal. He might not eat much in the morning —perhaps a lot of water, some dates, some food. That’s it. It’s all about your mental discipline.”
Past master
The former Pakistan captain Mushtaq Mohammad, who played the game in the 1960s and 1970s, now lives in England. When we talked with him, he was about to go to the mosque for his prayers.
Were there players who fasted when he was active? Mohammad does not sound very enthusiastic about cricketers who fast as he says: “Our players like Inzamam, Younis, Misbah etc are very religious, they fast. In our times, religion was religion — just an everyday thing. Rozmarra ki cheez thhi. Religion was a private matter.”
Moeen says it’s a private matter for him, too, and only offers this comment: “I will respect the Ramazan.”