The Iqbal effect

This rural belt may not have produced any remarkable sportsmen, but its barren fields are dotted with scrawny children wielding the willow and tossing tennis balls. A little known fact is that Mukhtar Ansari, an imprisoned mafia don from Mau, is such a cricket buff that he has converted part of the compound of the Jaunpur jail — where he is lodged — into a makeshift cricket ground, and has taught many inmates how to bat and bowl. But despite the ‘Iqbal effect’ on youngsters in the religious schools, Madni was keen on explaining why his school did not encourage cricket. “We do encourage sports that help boys build their bodies,” he said.