BCCI mum on blind cricket body plea

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The first ever T20 blind cricket World Cup will be held from December 2 to December 13 in Bengaluru and have nine countries taking part. Apart from the hosts, England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal will be participating.

However, the Cricket Association for the Blind in India (Cabi), which is organising the event, is worried at the fact that they are still running short of Rs 1.5 crore required for the event. Although they have written to the Board for Control of Cricket in India asking for some help with regards to the funds in March, the BCCI is yet to reply.

Cabi president S.P. Nagesh said, “Organising a cricket world cup is not a small thing. It is a mammoth task and a huge challenge for an NGO like ours to have taken it up solely.

“We have met the BCCI officials a number of times, but we haven’t received any concrete reply. However, we are hopeful that the BCCI will give a positive reply. Their support will not only help us to meet the financial demands but also conduct the event in a better manner,” he adds.

It is an irony that the BCCI, which had registered a profit of Rs 382 crore for 2011-12, a doubling over the previous year predominantly due to the Indian Premier League, is yet to reply to the request. The not-for-profit cricket body’s turnover in 2011-12 was Rs 849 crore, a 46 per cent jump over the Rs 581 crore it reported in 2010-11.

Hoping that the BCCI would soon come up and help the ailing sponsors with the funds and required support to help the mega-event, AICC general secretary Oscar Fernandes said, “This is high time now that the BCCI realises the importance of this event and helps us. There are many countries coming to India for this event and we are expecting a crowd of 40,000 in the inaugural itself.”

Meanwhile, India will be represented by a 17-member team at the event, which will be played on league-cum-knockout basis in different grounds with a total of 39 matches. The semi-finals and the final will be broadcast live on the DD Sports.

Hard hitting opening batsman Shekar Naik from Karnataka will lead the side.

The squad: Shekar Naik (capt, Kar), I. Ajaykumar Reddy (VC, AP), Ganeshbhai Bhusara (Guj), Hanuman Pooniya (Raj), K. Ramesh (TN), Maneesh A (Ker), Prakasha Jayaramaiah (Kar), Dunna Venkatesh (AP), Hiteshbhai Patel (Guj), Dilip Munde (Maha), Pankaj Bhue (Ori), Ketanbhai Patel (Guj), Sanjeev Kumar Dalal (Har), Ravi S (Kar), Md. Jaffar Iqbal (Ori), Subhash Bhoya (Guj). Coach: Patrick Rajkumar (Kar)