‘I am glad to clear roadblocks for differently-abled cricketers’
BCCI secretary Jay Shah played a pivotal role in the board deciding to take differently-abled cricket under its wing. In a conversation with HT, Shah spoke about the challenges and what lies ahead. Excerpts
It took almost 10 years for the BCCI to take cricket for differentlyabled under its wings. How did the BCCI get convinced?
When I was elected as the secretary of the Board, this was one area that was close to my heart, and I wanted to bring about a change. I was very keen to set a system in place for our divyang cricketers so that they can benefit from BCCI’s resources and expertise. I am glad we have cleared the roadblocks and we will continue to build.
There were multiple, local bodies working with differently abled cricketers in India. What happens to them?
When we started the process of identifying and recognising differently-abled cricketers, I was approached by four to five different bodies all wanting to be recognised. Much time was spent to bring all of them under one umbrella, understand their concerns and ensure their proper representation.
What’s the next step?
Our aim throughout was very clear that the body that will be recognised will need to be absolutely transparent in their process, in their dayto-day functioning, their operations and with their selection policies so that the talented cricketers do not suffer. Now that they are under the BCCI’s fold, we have given them certain guidelines under which all BCCI-recognised matches take place. Our committee is forming a roadmap for development and will present it soon to the board.