Blind Cricket – T20 World Cup for the Blind: Suvendu Mahata hopes to remove stigma of ‘blind cricketer’ Born partially blind, Mahata already had his first brush with cricket before a freak accident in 2001 left him with completely impaired vision at the age of five. With a potential international debut in the World Cup, the Bengal all-rounder is hoping to change mindsets.
“The tone is what stings sometimes, because it can be condescending, even though the reality is I’m really blind,” he says. “And it’s worse when some people hear I’m a blind cricketer; it’s almost unthinkable to them that blind people play cricket.”
Blind Cricket
That’s the perception Mahata, 25, is hoping to undo in the third T20 Cricket World Cup for the Blind, which starts on Tuesday, as he nears a potential international debut, not least at a home world championship. A batting all-rounder in the blind state Bengal cricket team since 2014, he is part of the India squad that will compete in the seven-team T20 World Cup.
Virat And Boys Should Play Blindfold Against Our Blind Cricket Team To Explain Level Of Difficulty’
“Most people in the blind community get by and get by in some way, and those in blind cricket are no different,” says Mahanta. “This is where a platform as big as the World Cup can help spark a shift in perception. You see athletes who are representing the country and are fighting for global supremacy, then you also see the blind community.”
India, the defending champions and two-time winners of the format, will compete against Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia, South Africa and Nepal, in the 24-match T20 World Cup. The tournament will be played in Faridabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Indore and Bangalore, with each team playing each opponent once, from December 5 to 17.
“The opportunity to represent India would be huge. Few get such a blow, at the World Cup on home soil. It could be a dream come true for me,” says Mahata. “I would like to be in the XI especially for the match against Pakistan, because they are our strongest opponents.”
Mahata is one of five B1 category (completely visually impaired) players in India’s 17-member squad and one of 10 players vying for World Cup debut. A declared “tragic cricketer”, he is a right-handed batsman of medium order and bowls medium pace with his right arm as a change bowler.
Inclusivity The Key As Tasmania Takes On National Cricket Inclusion Championships In Brisbane
“My love for the game is such that I’m usually the first into a cricket ground and the last to leave because I love the sport so much,” he says. “It helped me find new meaning in life; it gives me joy”.
Born partially blind, Mahata had already had his first brush with cricket before a freak accident in 2001 left him with a complete visual impairment when he was five. A regular stroll around his neighborhood in Kaima village, Jhargram district of West Bengal, changed the life of a novice cyclist who lost control and crashed the vehicle into his face, losing four front teeth on his place.
Unbeknownst to Mahata, the vision in his right eye began to deteriorate further shortly thereafter. When he reached the second level in his school, his left eye would also be blind. Multiple attempts to operate on them were futile, leaving him no choice but to embrace his new world of complete darkness.
“Ask anyone who goes from partial blindness, complete sight, or partial sight to total blindness, they’ll likely say the same thing: That it’s never easy and that they wish it never happened to them,” reflects Mahata. “But if it happens, you can’t afford to give up. Luckily, I found cricket and people who stopped me from reaching the brink.”
Why Blind Cricketers In Pakistan Are Better Off Than Six Time Champions India
He attributes much of his career to Sumit Kumar Bag, a PE teacher at the blind school he enrolled in two years after his accident. Bag, Mahata says, encouraged him to learn the sport in a formal blindfold cricket system, where the international version of the sport has several differences from regular cricket.
Blind cricketers, for example, shoot underarm, with batsmen relying heavily on sweeping, due to the maximum area of the bat available to make contact. The ball is usually made of plastic and is filled with steel bearings, so hitters and fielders can hear it play.
“The cricket I first watched when I was young and the cricket I play now are not the same, but they are both cricket,” Mahata says with a smile. “There is beauty in this kind of diversity as more people discover blind cricket.”
One of the advantages of making the starting XI among the four places reserved for category B1 players — each blind international team must also have three category B2 cricketers (partially blind, with a maximum of two or three meters of vision) and four from pool B3 (with partial vision) – Mahata impressed a lot with his performance in the preparatory camps.
Why India Are Playing Blind World Cup Final In Uae, Not Pakistan
“I first saw this in the expanded 29-man squad in Bhopal in September and October, which was then whittled down to the last 17-man squad attending a camp in Bengaluru before heading to Delhi. In every single field, Suvendu’s strength stood out,” says Asif Basha S, the coach of India’s blind cricket team.
“His fitness as a B1 player is very good, as is his deployment in the third short man region. His confidence has caught my eye as has the Blind Cricket Association selection committee. He is very diligent and gives nothing less than 100%”.
Mahata credits his work ethic and passion for the sport in part to his elder brother, himself a partially blind cricketer, and former India captain Sachin Tendulkar. It was largely through TV audio commentaries, Mahata recalls, that followed most of the batting legend’s storied career.
Meeting Tendulkar “one day will be a thrilling experience,” he says. For now, Mahata is thrilled that one of Tendulkar’s former teammates and World Cup winner is stepping up in support of the third T20 Cricket World Cup for the blind as an ambassador for the company
Cricket News: Australia’s Steffan Nero Makes History With Triple Century At International Inclusion Series
“Yuvraj Singh is a fighter himself,” says Mahata of the former India. “He is an inspirational figure not only in what he has achieved on the field for India but also off it battling and beating cancer. His association with the T20 World Cup is a source of pride for us.”
Mahata holds a master’s degree in political science from Rabindra Bharati University in West Bengal and is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in education from Santipur University. He studies and trains in a hostel for the blind in Payradanga.
His ambition is to be a teacher “because a teacher can create a nation with children and my teachers have been instrumental in getting me here,” he says. He hopes, however, that cricket can remain a lifelong companion.
“I found cricket and it helped me overcome the darkness that blindness put me in,” says Mahata. “And while that darkness may never completely leave me, cricket was a big reason I learned to live with it; it helped me see the light.
World Cup Winning Blind Cricketers Seek Financial Support, Proper Roadmap From Bcci
“I would like every child going through the ordeal transition that I went through when I was five – from seeing the world one way and not being able to see it at all – to find cricket or whatever the cricket equivalent is.” hope. be for them. When everything seems pointless and futile, that glimmer of hope can make them appreciate life, as cricket did for me.” We Don’t Play Dolly series tells the story of the blind Karnataka women’s cricket team and their determined coach, who have to overcome all obstacles on their way to sporting glory in a male dominated sport.
KARNATAKA, India: Vijayalakshmi Moleshwer once went on a hunger strike at her home after her father forbade her to play cricket.
But that was just one of several hurdles of hers in her quest to play for India. The 33-year-old is also completely blind.
“Even in the light, I can’t see anything,” she said. “I don’t see the ball. I just observe the sound.”
Badal Pe Paon Hai’: India’s 1st Women’s Blind Cricket Team All Set For Their Debut International Series
By itself, learning the sport of blind cricket – and playing it well – is no easy task. But especially for women in India, like Moleshwer and her teammates from the Karnataka blind women’s cricket team, the odds are stacked against them.
CNA’s two-part series We Don’t Play Dolly tells the story of the extraordinary women on the team and their determined coach. (Watch the first episode here.)
“Dolly” is an easy catch in cricket and was a term sometimes used to make fun of the way women played.
But as the series shows, they overcame obstacles and battled prejudice to get to where they are today: runners-up in a national championship and hopefully a chance to represent their country.
Blind Cricket World Cup. Malik, Reddy & More: 5 Indian Stars From Blind Cricket World Cup
In blind cricket, which began in Australia in 1922, the ball is larger than a standard cricket ball and contains ball bearings.
This means that it makes a rattling sound and players get an idea of where the ball is
