Published: May 23, 2015, 04:28 PM (IST)
Edited: May 23, 2015, 04:28 PM (IST)
While the entire nation focuses on the final of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL), the Indian blind cricket team is set to leave for England and Bahrain.
The Indian blind team had no recognition until they came into limelight by winning the inaugural Twenty 20 World cup (T20) in 2014 after they beat arch-rivals Pakistan. Blind cricket is that version of the game which has been adapted to provide to the needs of the visually-challenged cricketers and found some acknowledgment in the mid-1990s when the World Blind Cricket Council (WBCC) was formed in 1996.
The Indian blind team is set for three T20s and same number of One-Day matches against England from May 24 to 31. Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI), which is affiliated to Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) and World Blind Cricket (WBC), announced that said the team would visit Bahrain and play matches there from June 1-4 and return home on June 5.
The team has been practising in Valsad, Gujarat since May 18 and skipper Shekar Nayak is confident to take on England.
“The team is well prepared and is in good form. Recent experiences of playing zonals and earlier World Cup wins make me confident of a win in the bilateral series too. We have a good coach who has been working hard with us and the boys are very determined,” said Nayak in a report from Press Trust of India (PTI).
Though positive about the upcoming tour, it is team’s poor financial health which worries Nayak the most, who works with Samarthanam Trust for the disabled as a sports coordinator in Karnataka and earns a mere monthly income of Rs 13,000.
While regular international cricketers make a lot of money, the blind cricketers struggle with their basic needs. According to a report from Mid Day, the T20 World cup winning captain said, “My monthly income is just around Rs 13, 000. I requested the sports ministry for a government job, but I am yet to get one.”
Though legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Nayak and his team after the triumph in 2014, he expects more encouragement this time from the current Indian team.
“After winning the World Cup no one from Team India congratulated us except Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan, who tweeted about us,” Nayak concluded.
