Cricket Association for the Blind in Kerala (CABK) has recently made the state’s first visually-challenged women’s cricket squad, which will contest against national-level teams starting this month. Both the men’s and women’s teams of CABK were present in Kochi as part of the jersey-unveiling ceremony.
“The women’s cricket team will be first in Kerala to compete in team sports events. Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) has decided to form an Indian women’s cricket team in 2020. As part of it, CABK formed the women’s team. It took around six months to identify talented players. Now the team trains at various grounds in Ernakulam,” said Rajneesh Henry, CABI vice-president, and CABK general secretary.
The players, aged between 16 and 25 years, belong to B1 (completely visually-impaired), B2 (partially-blind) and B3 (partially-sighted) categories.
Tanuja C George will lead the squad. Simi Thomas, a visually-impaired faculty from Maharaja’s College, is training the team. UST Global has come forward to support the team.
“The state will play against Karnataka in Kochi on November 30 and December 1. The team will take part in a T20 tournament to be held in New Delhi from December 16 to 19,” said CABK president Prasanth.
On the other side, CABK’s men’s team is going to compete in the second edition of T20 Nagesh Trophy from November 21. The team will play its group-stage matches at St Paul’s College ground, Kalamassery. The rest of their matches will be played at Chennai on December 10 and 11.
“Last year, Kerala reached the quarterfinals of Nagesh Trophy. Blind cricket has witnessed tremendous growth in the state. Currently, we have professional management that runs like other cricket boards,” said Rajneesh.
Such initiatives make the game of cricket, a contest for all with equal fun and opportunities.
Source: The Indian Express
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