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Team India continued their dominance on world cricket as the Men in Blue clinched T20 World Cup 2022 for blind by beating Bangladesh in the summit-clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. With that win, Indian team registered its third successive T20 World Cup title for the Blind.
The hosts remained unbeaten throughout the tournament and also received the Man of the Series in the B3 category. While Indian skipper Ajay Kumar Reddy guided India to beat Bangladesh by 120 runs and helped the side to stamp its authority in the elite competition, the prolific batter didn't hesitate from expressing the plight of blind cricketers.
In an interaction with ANI, Ajay said that blind cricket and cricketers are yet to get recognition from the Sports Ministry of India and the Board of Control for Cricket in India. "We need recognition from Sports Ministry or BCCI. The Board of Control for Cricket in India formed the Differently Abled Cricket Council of India (DCCI), on year back. They have not set any road map that how through DCCI they are gonna support differently abled cricket. There should be a road map, so that through that CABI (Cricket Association for the Blind in India) can plan annual calendar, groom future generations, make cricket grounds, provide facilities and finances to players," Ajay said.
The Indian skipper further claimed that blind cricketers must not be treated with sympathy, but like a regular cricketer . "With that, people can change their mindset, come forward and support us. They just have to change their mindset. A lot of corporates can adopt us, provide us with financial support. We will not need to stay dependent on BCCI," Ajay added.
We have proved ourselves. We have won five world cups. We have completed a hat trick of world cups. We should not be tolerating this (lack of recognition),” concludes Ajay.
However, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday congratulated the Indian team for winning the T20 World Cup 2022 for the Blind and said that the country is proud of its athletes. "India is proud of our athletes. Delighted that we have won the T-20 World Cup for the Blind. Congratulations to our team and best wishes to them for their future endeavors," Modi tweeted.
