Mumbai: After the tremendous success by the Indian Blind Men cricket Team, The Cricket Association for the Blind in India on Sunday launched its first blind women cricket team of 41 members in Bengaluru.
The Indian blind men cricket team, which have won T20 World Cup, ODI World Cup and T20 Asia Cup, didn’t just win for themselves or India, they also won for the blind women cricketers who, though not seeing it, but felt the ray of hope for the first time. India’s blind cricket team for men was launched in 2011 and it won the T20 world Cup in 2012. India defeated Pakistan by 29 runs in the final held at Aditya Academy Ground in Bengaluru on December 13, 2012.
Woman selection committee chairman and former Indian Women’s team Captain, Shantha Rangaswamy, did the honour of launching this team yesterday.
All the eyes were on CABI General Secretary, John David. He told the media that the team has been launched with an aim to empower visually impaired women. He also mentioned that there was a great demand for a blind women’s cricket team since a very long time.
“A lot of interest has been shown by various women to play cricket and that boosted our confidence and that’s why we today launched this team. We are trying to move forward by working very hard and work for the betterment,” he told ANI.
Ex Captain of the Blind Indian Cricket team, Shekhar Naik siad, “This is a very nice initiative taken by Shantha Rangaswamy. Like men’s cricket team, women cricket team should also be given the same amount of recognition worldwide and there should be events like world cup and others,”
He further added, “I am sure that this team will definitely show its talent and will participate at the national and international level. We need more support to recognize this kind of cricket.”
There is a fair chance that these women will be trained by their male counterparts and it will surely help the women, as these men have excelled at the international level and will be able to help them with a perfect mindset.
With a step towards the betterment of the future of Blind women who want to play cricket, it is going to be a tough journey of learning and success.