India selects first women’s blind cricket team for Nepal tour

Bengaluru:  The Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) has announced the selection of India’s first-ever women’s cricket team for the blind, which will represent the country in the upcoming Bilateral Series against Nepal. The selection was made based on the players’ performances in the recently concluded selection trials held in Bhopal. The Bilateral tour is scheduled to take place in Nepal from April 25 to 30.

The players’ performances were closely monitored by the officials, including Selection Committee Chairman E John David during the selection trials. The 17-member squad selected from the trials will go down in history as the first-ever Indian team to compete in the T20 Bilateral Series for the Blind. Speaking on the selection process, E John David, Chairman of the CABI Selection Committee and General Secretary of the Cricket Association for the Blind in India, stated that 38 players were initially shortlisted for the selection trials based on their performances in the previous national tournaments, and expressed confidence that the selected 17 players form a strong team that will emerge victorious in the upcoming tournament in Nepal.

Dr Mahantesh G. Kivadasannavar, President of CABI, expressed his excitement about the announcement, stating, “This is something that we have been eagerly anticipating for a long time. It is time to showcase to the world that India is proud to have its first-ever women’s cricket team for the blind. I am confident that this is just the beginning, and these women will make us even prouder and inspire many more visually impaired women to play cricket with passion.”

The 17-member squad will participate in an intensive national cricket coaching camp at Sarda Sportscube Foundation in Gurugram from April 17, 2023 to April 22, 2023. On April 23, 2023, the Indian team, along with officials, will depart from Delhi to Nepal to compete in 5 T20 matches in Pokhara and Kathmandu. Cricket Association for the Blind in India proudly announced Sushma Patel from Madhya Pradesh as the captain and Gangavva Neelappa Harijan from Karnataka as the vice-captain for the upcoming T20 bilateral cricket series for the blind between India and Nepal in 2023.

Initiated by CABI and Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled, the idea of introducing cricket for visually impaired women had been in the works for some time. Following the success of Cricket for Visually Impaired Men in the last decade, the T-20 National Trophy for Visually Impaired Women was introduced in 2019, with 150 women from 7 different states participating. 

The first National tournament was won by Odisha. Smrithi Mandhana, Vice-captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, supported the effort by becoming the brand ambassador, and the legendary West Indian cricketer Brian Lara showed his solidarity by attending the press conference at the launch of the tournament.

The second Women’s Nationals, for which Indian cricketer Rajeshwari Gayakwad was the brand ambassador, saw participation from 14 state teams, twice the number of teams from the previous tournament. Karnataka emerged as the winners in the tournament held in Bengaluru.

In the third Women’s Nationals, which also took place in Bengaluru, 16 teams competed for the title, with Odisha beating Karnataka in the finals to secure their second victory. Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian Women’s Cricket Team Captain, has been named the Brand Ambassador for Women’s Blind Cricket for this year.

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