Indian team ready for T20 Blind World Cup

[1]

The first ever T20 Blind World Cup slated to begin from December 2 to 13 in Bengaluru will have nine teams, including host India. Having defeated Pakistan in March, India is among the favourites to win this Cup.

In India, cricket is passion. Be it Test cricket, one-day internationals or Twenty20, we never miss an opportunity to enjoy a cricket match. However, there is another version of cricket that deserves the same kind of attention.

Blind cricket, which is played through the length and breadth of India, requires more attention than what normal cricket gets. Not because they are played by visually impaired people, but because of their fighting spirit and a challenge to pursue a game which many able people only dream about. With above 200 teams, each state has 15-20 teams, and more than 10,000 players, cricket for the blind is no more an isolated game. It’s another thing that it has not got the deserved attention.

In a novel effort to make these visually impaired cricketers realise that they too are unique and not any way behind normal cricketers, Bengaluru-based NGO Samarthanam and Cricket Association for the Blind in India (Cabi) joined hands to organise the inaugural T20 Blind Cricket World Cup in Bengaluru from December 2 to December 13, with the SBI being the principal sponsor. Established in 1997, Samarthanam has always supported blind people in fulfilling their needs.

Mahantesh, a founder manager of Samarthanam and general secretary of Cabi, says: “Cricket in India is a mania, and visually challenged people are no exceptions. They follow the sport with the same passion and have the same urge as a normal cricketer has to play cricket.”

Deciding to hold this World Cup in May 2011 at the annual general meeting of the World Blind Cricket Council held in Dubai, there was a mammoth task before the organisers to keep everything in place. “It was a mammoth task to organise and coordinate with several individuals and institutions to get every approval ready for the event. Getting good grounds and adequate financial support were the two major challenges that we had to face,” says Kishore Joseph, media associate of Team India.

The rules set for the tournament are unlike the usual T20 cricket tournament. The ball to be played with in the tournament will have jingling bells in it so that the visually impaired can play on their hearing ability. The bowler has to deliver the ball underarm, and the ball must pitch twice before reaching the batsman, with the first pitch before halfway of the pitch. The stumps are made of steel to help the players differentiate between the ball hitting the bat and the batsman getting bowled.

The cricketers in the team are divided into three categories B1 (totally blind), B2 (partially blind) and B3 (partially fainted). The wicketkeeper — a partially sighted player — plays the role of a marshal, whose responsibility is to guide the bowlers and the fielders with his clapping and loud talk. He helps the bowlers locate where the stumps are, fielders to stop the ball and also to throw it back to him.

The players who will represent India have been selected from across the country on the basis of their performance in the selection trials tournaments held at Dharwad, Karnataka and Kochi. The Indian contingent of 17 players will be led by 24-year-old hard hitting opening batsman Shekar Naik from Karnataka. The Indian team, which had defeated Pakistan in March, is among the favourites going into the T20 World Cup.

The Indian blind cricket team has taken part in three World Cups, reaching the finals in the 2006 edition. To keep their prospects high in this inaugural cup and to keep at bay teams like Australia and Pakistan — whom they consider as tough opponents — the players are undergoing vigorous training under the guidance of their coach Patrick Rajkumar at the IIM grounds in Bengaluru. Skipper Naik says, “The condition camp is under progress and we practice from 6 am to 4 pm.” Not quite keen to disclose his strategy, Naik says he will be shuffling the teams according to the strength and weakness of the opponents.

Naik too had his difficulties in the past as he belonged to a very poor and backward family. However, Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled helped him make his dreams come true. “As both of my parents were blind, I did not know what my future would be. But when I got in touch with Samarthanam, it supported me in every form, be it education or sports. Today I have been to many countries representing the Indian blind cricket team. And I am a confident captain aspiring to win the T20 World Cup,” says Naik.

The inaugural ceremony will be held in Shree Kanteerva Stadium, Bengaluru, and a total of 39 matches will be played, with four matches every day. The organisers have booked three grounds viz Central College Grounds, Bengaluru; KSCA, Aloor Ground; Nellamangala & Aditya Global Sports Ground, Nellamanga, Bengaluru Rural, to conduct the matches.