Indian Women’s Blind Cricket Team to play first ever Bilateral Series with Nepal

The first-ever Women’s Blind Cricket Team will represent India in a Bilateral Series against Nepal which will be played at Pokhara and Kathmandu in Nepal from the 25th to the 30th of this month.

The team will play five T20s announced Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) in a press conference held in the city. This is a major development in the efforts of CABI and Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled to uplift the women players in the game.

The team was selected from the National Championships held earlier in the year and the final team was selected after a national camp held in Bhopal. The team will be captained by Sushma Patel who is a B3 Category player.

Harmanpreet Kaur, Captain of the Indian Women’s Team is the Brand Ambassador of the Indian Women’s Blind Cricket Team. “I am proud and happy to be associated with the team. They are an inspiration to many young girls who want to overcome their disabilities and play the sport at the highest level. I get more energy when I see these girls and helps me encourage them to achieve for the country”, said Harmanpreet Kaur who joined the press conference virtually.

India will play Nepal in five T20s in which the first two matches will be played at the Pokhara Cricket Ground, Kaski, and the remaining matches will be played at the Mulapani Cricket Ground, Kathmandu.

Talking about the efforts for uplifting the women’s game, Dr. G.K Mahantesh, President, CABI said, “This is the result of our continuous efforts to support and bring our girls to the forefront of the game. I believe that this tour will be a great exposure for our team and we hope to provide them with many more such tours in the future. This is just the first step towards making the game accessible for more women and encouraging them to take up the sport and our team will be the trendsetters for a huge change for women’s Blind Cricket in India. I wish our girls the very best for the series.”

The Inauguration for the Women’s Bilateral T20 Cricket Series for the Blind 2023 will be held on 25th April at the Pokhara Cricket Ground followed by the opening match. The team will arrive on 23rd April in Kathmandu.

“We have selected our best possible team for this series from a pool of very talented players. We believe that these players who have created history will make all the country proud and I wish our players the very best for the series”, said Mr. E. John David, Secretary General, CABI.

INDIAN WOMEN’S BLIND CRICKET TEAM SQUAD

B1 Category

K. Sandhya, U. Varsha, Padmini Tudu, Simu Das, Priya, V. Ravanni

B2 Category

Gangavva Neelappa Harijan (Vice-Captain), Sandra Davis, Basanti Hansda, Pritiben, Prity Prasad

B3 Category

Sushma Patel (Captain), Phula Saren, Ganga Kadam, Deepika TC, Jhili Birua, M. Satyavathi