Blind Cricket Team
India has the best blind cricket team in the world which created history by defeating Bangladesh in the final of the T20 World Cup. The special thing is that in the history of the Blind T20 World Cup, the Indian team has not given any other team in the world a chance to lift the trophy. India hosted the third T20 World Cup and achieved the distinction of becoming the World Champion for the third time in a row. But very few people know that the players of this team are finding it difficult to feed themselves.
10 players of the team unemployed
World Cup-winning Indian captain Ajay Kumar Reddy on Monday urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to support blind cricket, saying it would bring professionalism and financial incentive to the sport. Even after winning the World Cup, 10 players of the 17-member team are unemployed. For many of these players, lack of financial support is causing ‘difficulty in pursuing the game’. Many players are ‘busy’ in some other work for livelihood.
appealed to BCCI
Reddy, who scored a century in the final, said, “We have won the World Cup for the third time in a row but we do not have any main sponsor. It is very difficult to play cricket in those circumstances when we know that we do not have any work to earn a livelihood so that we can feed our family. The ‘Differently-Abled Cricket Council of India (DCCI)’ was recognized to promote the game among the differently-abled. According to G Mahantesh, president of the Blind Cricket Association in India, not much has changed since then in terms of support for blind cricketers. Mahantesh said, “The BCCI is sympathetic towards all of us along with providing us infrastructure and training facilities, but we also need financial support from them to bring in more professionalism.”
won the title for the third time
Reddy, who helped India win two T20 World Cup titles (2017 and 2022), is unhappy with the delay in charting the future for blind cricket. Reddy said, “Recognition (from BCCI) has been given, but there is no blueprint for our game, no one knows what is happening. We have brought glory to the country on the cricket field as well and deserve a central contract (from the BCCI).”
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