HOW IT WORKS

A blind cricket team has three categories of players — B1 (totally blind, they wear patches to cover their eyes), B2 (partially blind) and B3 (partially sighted).

A team must have at least four B1 players, three B2 players and not more than four B3 players.

The game works on sound. The bowler must call out ‘Ready’ and wait for the batsman to say ‘Play’ before he releases the ball. The ball is full of metal bearings, which make a squeaky noise so the batsman can track it.

Runs scored by a B1 player are doubled.

All wicketkeepers are B2 or B3. Other B2 and B3 players can call out directions to guide them towards the ball.

“The boys are highly dependent on audio signals – go left, go right – and the wicketkeeper plays an important role while fielding,” says coach

John David.

The team mainly relies on private, nongovernmental and corporate sponsorships like that of IndusInd Bank, which has been sponsoring the team and their travels for two years.

The Cricket Association for the Blind in India, which was set up and is backed by non-profit organisation Samarthanam Trust, is now rallying for official recognition from the BCCI — which is, incidentally, the richest cricket board in the world.

When asked for his comment on this effort, BCCI CEO Rahul Johri extended his congratulations to the team. “The cricketers have proved their mettle by winning the World Cup, twice. We at BCCI are really proud of their achievement. They are an inspiration to all,” he said. Commentary is the game when it comes to cricket for the blind.

During matches, the play-by-play will run full blast in the waiting box — it’s the only way players can keep tabs on their score and on how their opposition is doing. “This is also a good reason why blind cricket should always be on the radio; it gives almost everyone the ability to enjoy the sport,” says Harsha Bhogle, cricket commentator and analyst. Wicketkeeper Prakash Jayaramaiah, 34, the son of a lorry driver and a tailor, was a teen when he first heard a match between two blind cricket teams unfold on the radio. Seniors from his blind school were playing.

“That was the first time I think I realised, in my heart, that I could play,” he says. “My parents were worried I would injure myself. They are so proud of me now.” Jayaramaiah, incidentally, works at a call centre.

“Cricket has given me style, personality and friends from around the world,” Jayaramaiah adds. He has two dreams now: to defeat Pakistan in Pakistan; and to mentor young cricketers as his seniors mentored him.

The first thing he would teach: Confidence. “It takes so much belief in yourself to even pick up the ball and throw it for the first time, and often on the pitch too,” he says.

For Ganeshbhai Muhundkar, 29, an allrounder from a farming family in Basan village in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, the attention he gets in his village is a highlight of playing for Team India.

Muhundkar injured one eye when he fell off a cycle at age 4. In 2000, he joined a blind school. It was here that he was first picked, for the Gujarat team, in 2005.

“Cricket has always been a passion. I would play it in my free time, out on the streets, but now that I’m playing it professionally, it feels great,” he says.

“There wasn’t much awareness about blind cricket before and now a small ground in my village has been named after me where kids can play cricket.” All he wants now is a stable income and a government job. A big challenge on India’s blind cricket team, interestingly, is communication. Many players are fluent only in their mother tongue, and hail from different states across the country. “Kannada is my language. Also on the team are Bengali-, Gujarati- and Odiyaspeakers,” says Jayaramaiah. Broken Hindi is a common thread. “Touring together does give us some time to learn each other’s languages too,” he adds. Pakistan and India have the strongest rivalry on-field. “That’s because both the teams are equally strong,” says India head coach John David, 44.

Relations with all international teams are friendly off the field though; “after all they all have shared experiences and a passion for cricket in common,” David adds. Jayaramaiah says he’s considered a “terror” among the Pakistani players. “But that’s all during the game. Once they’re off the field, friendship ensues. “They joke with each other and discuss how they all played,” adds David. “We use WhatsApp and Facebook to stay in touch with players from other national teams,” says captain Reddy. David, who is partially sighted and the co-founder of the Samarthanam Trust, also acts as travel coach and tour guide. “Many of the players have never travelled by flights before their first big game, and travelling internationally is even more complicated,” he says. “We help with all the formalities. While touring, we listen to music and we give the players a running commen- tary about tourist landmarks and sights that we’re passing,” he adds.

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Every kid has, at some point, picked up a bat and ball and felt that rush. The excitement, the involvement and sense of aspiration are the same in blind cricket. It is their sport as much as it is Dhoni’s or Kohli’s. I do believe the BCCI can take blind cricket under its umbrella. HARSHA BHOGLE, cricket commentator and analyst

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The fact that the visually impaired players are playing in itself is so important the way they play, by sound, is truly remarkable. This is true of any sport and the differently abled. If the BCCI could assist them, it would be great. But it also has to come from the people of the same society as them, support them, come out to watch them play and engage with them. Otherwise it looks like charity, and that’s not the point of the sport.

AYAZ MEMON, veteran sports writer

India’s attitude to blind cricket has much to do with our society’s attitude towards disability overall, says Vimal Denga, honorary secretary of the National Association for the Blind (NAB) and also visually impaired.

“We are sportspersons but we don’t get the same treatment as other mainstream sportspeople in the country,” Reddy says. “I do think it is because we are blind.”

In a country where the game is virtually a religion, it should be even more remarkable that a team of blind men is winning globally, particularly given the lack of support, Denga says.

“In a country where it is so difficult to secure an education and livelihood if you are physically challenged, blind sportsperson need to be recognised by the government,” he adds.

“These players’ stories and successes are already arousing confidence and hope in visually challenged people. They have the power to inspire many more.”

Support from the BCCI, says Mahantesh GK, founder of the Samarthanam Trust, would not just empower the players and blind youngsters across the country but also free up the team and the management to focus on the game, and not worry about bare minimum requirements.

“It is a very positive thing for us to feel proud; to be able to contribute to the country and represent the country internationally,” says Denga. “We often ask ourselves, what is our contribution to the nation? Our men in blue are paving a way for that identity now.”