Update
India defeated Pakistan by 9 wickets in the finals making it their second victory against Pakistan in the Blind T20 World Cup series, having won previously in 2012. India entered the finals after winning eight out of their nine matches. They lost one match against Pakistan, who came into the finals undefeated.
India beat Sri Lanka by 10 wickets to reach the finals. Sri Lanka was all out for 174 in 19.2 overs in the semi-final, and India managed to chase the target in just 13 overs with both openers remaining unbeaten. The finals are on Sunday at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
***
Starting 31st of January India began hosting the Blind T20 World Cup. The opening match between India and Bangladesh took place in New Delhi, with India beating Bangladesh by 129 runs. The Blind T20 was first organized by the Cricket Association for the Blind (CABI) and World Blind Cricket Ltd in India. The 2012 T20 was won by the Indian Cricket team. Since then the Blind T20 has taken place in various other countries.
Blind Cricket is played using audio balls which allow blind players to follow the sound of the ball to locate it. The ball was developed by the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped, Dehradun and has been accepted as an international standard ball. The game also involves players signaling via hand signs and verbal cues to ensure that everyone involved in the game is equally prepared. The bowlers usually bowl under-arm and the batsmen usually bat using the sweeping technique. Blind Cricket is inclusive as it involves a ball by ball commentary to ensure that the audience does not miss out on any aspect of the match, unlike the more popular form of cricket which is ableist in its commentary.
This year’s Blind T20 is already off to an exciting start and is on Day 6. India has played exceptionally well, registering its latest victory over New Zealand in its match. Edward James Hossell and James Hollingsworth scored the most runs for England while Ketan Patel, Venkateswara Rao, Sunil, Sonu Golkar, and Iqbal Jafar were in their full form taking wickets for the Indian team.
CABI unfortunately, has chosen an able-bodied cricketer to be the brand ambassador for the T20 matches which is disheartening to see after the strides it has made in ensuring the visibility of Blind Cricket increase.
Another thing that is important to note that Pakistan is playing at the T20 matches being held in India and are smashing it out of the ball park with their brilliant performance. We seem to not have heard protests flair up at the Hindutva Sena end, either they have forgotten the tantrum over Pakistan that they were throwing months ago or they don’t see the Blind T20 players as threat, which highlights both the ableist Hindutva ideology and child like egocentric behavior that they are best known for.
To follow the Blind T20 matches go here.
