Formation of two separate national disability teams on the agenda ahead of ICC Annual Conference in Colombo.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is all set to hold its annual conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 19th-22nd July 2024. It is a significant event where various points regarding the latest advancements, including some strategic discussions and decision making take place regarding some key topics.
The calls for forming a couple of separate national disability teams gain steam ahead of the ICC’s annual conference. The intent behind forming separate national teams is to promote the sport within a specially-abled community of athletes around the world.
“We propose boards operate two international teams — a blind XI as a standalone format and then a pan-disability format with squads consisting of deaf, intellectually impaired, and physically disabled cricketers. We would be keen and willing to host the inaugural pan-disability tournament involving our five nations in 2025. The ICC are keen to show collective support for this approach to ensure any steps are member-driven.” The ECB secretary Richard Gould proposed the idea of hosting the inaugural pan-disability tournament to the BCCI secretary, CEO’s of Cricket Australia, CSA, and the COO of PCB.
The BCCI Apex Council in April this year, had formally formed the committee for the Differently Abled Cricket Council of India (DCCI). The DCCI is the only body to promote cricket among physically challenged, deaf, blind, and wheelchair participants.
India’s first-ever blind women’s team was formed in April 2023. They played their first International match in a T20 bilateral series against Nepal. They also went on to participate in the IBSA World Games in Birmingham in August 2023. The Indian team led by skipper Varsha Umapathy clinched a historic gold medal by defeating Australia in the final. They had a flawless campaign as they managed to stay unbeaten throughout the tournament. After their historic gold medal triumph in the IBSA World Games in Birmingham, they also went on to participate in their maiden bilateral series in India against Nepal. They had an impressive outing in the five-match bilateral series as they clinched the series by a 4-1 margin.
“This has not been an area of sport we have collectively prioritized and although financial restraints are felt as prevalently now as ever, now is the time for us to come together to turbocharge the disability game.” Richard Gould speaks about prioritizing cricket for specially-abled athletes.
Ravi Chauhan from the DCCI will also be participating in the upcoming ICC annual conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
(Quotes sourced from Sports Star).