When 22 Saddams smashed Bush hard!

Saddam was actually the name of little cricketers playing a match in Jaipur. No points for guessing who Bush was - the ball!

Memories of the recently-executed former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein came alive in the form of a cricket match held by children in Jodhpur.

HT Image

The kids aged between 5-15 divided themselves into two teams, and interestingly all the 22 players played the match with the name 'Saddam'.

The ball was named 'Bush' and all the Saddams enjoyed smashing Bush hard, local media reported on Friday.

The match took place at the Jai Narain Vyas University ground. "The main objective to hold the match was to promote the courage of Saddam among children," said Tohid Ahmad Khan, the organiser of the match.

He said that popularity of Saddam had gone up across the world after the Gulf War.

"People even kept naming their newborns as Saddam. So we organised the match to promote courage among children just like Saddam."

The players were children belonging to nearby localities such as Kethanbadi, Gulzarpura, Purani Loco, Purana Stadium and Banba Ki Mazid.

"We are annoyed at the hanging of Saddam. We want to be as courageous as Saddam was," said Mohammad Ayub and Mohammad Hussein Gori, who played as openers in the match.

Saddam Hussein was executed on December 30, 2006, in Baghdad for ordering the massacre of 148 Shias in the Iraqi city of Dujail in 1982.