You know how all the other sports get short shrift compared with cricket? And then the women cricketers get not even a fraction of the attention and remuneration that the guys do? And then there are our disabled cricketers who get the worst bargain of all! The Indian physical disability cricket team just won the T20 'World Cup' and most of us don’t even know about it!
It may have been a disappointing Cricket World Cup campaign for Virat Kohli and his men. However, for another team of men in blue, it was a winning campaign. For legal reasons, it is called the Physical Disability World Cricket Series and has nothing to do with the ICC, but is no less a reason to celebrate.
There are five teams in this cricket competition: India, England, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. However physical disabilities are just one aspect of disabled cricket. There are other teams made up of players with learning disabilities, players with visual impairment or hearing impairment as well as wheelchair cricket.
Players of this special team do not have full use of their limbs either because of a congenital problem, or because of injury later in life. The Indian physical disability cricket team has battled not only personal disabilities but also a lack of funding.
The Indians beat Pakistan to reach the finals whereas the English team beat Afghanistan to reach the finals. Indian captain Vikrant Keni won the toss and decided to bat first. Thought the English team got early breakthroughs, the Indian team managed to pile up a 180 run total in their allotted 20 overs. Ravindra Sante scored 53 off 34 balls to put India in a strong position. England were all out in just 144 runs.
Though disability cricket has been around for a long time, it is very poorly funded and recognised. The Indian team, for instance, have no sponsor and even their participation in this event was not certain until practically the last moment. Very few TV news channels covered this victory. Though entry for the matches was free, there were few spectators in the stands which points to a general level of disinterest.
The Indian team started out as favourites in the competition and ultimately prevailed to become the T20 Disability Cricket Champions. Enjoy the highlights and watch carefully to see how each player powers on despite their disability.
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