India wheelchair cricket team to play its first international series
The Indian wheelchair cricket team has left for Bangladesh for a bilateral series between the two nations starting May 4. This is the first international event they will be participating in. The Wheelchair Cricket India (WCI) was founded by para-athlete Pradeep Raj in 2011. He drew inspiration from Bangladesh and Pakistan teams at a meet in Korea.
Pradeep Raj believes that when the Paralympics started not many from Indian knew athletes with disabilities. Now with Paralympians conquering the world, Raj believes that wheelchair cricket can gain similar popularity. India are already doing well in Blind Cricket, and gaining new grounds via this sport will help it get more recognition and love.
There is serious issues impacting the wheelchair cricket team. According to reports, they have lack of basic facilities and infrastructure. Moreover, the government, national cricket bodies, sports ministry and the BCCI, nobody has come out and offered any assistance and help even after Raj wrote to them. Only Sachin Tendulkar replied with words of encouragement. But then where is the help?
With the efforts in place, the Asian Wheelchair Cricket Council was formed that consists of five nations. Besides India, the other nations are Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan. India is also set to host the first ever Cricket Asia Cup in October 2018, after a meeting was held in Bangladesh last year.
The Indian wheelchair cricket team has 14 players from across India in its squad. The various states from which these players belong also have their respective teams. In 2017, there was the National Wheelchair Cricket Tournament which was held, with Uttar Pradesh emerging as the winner. A three-day camp was held in Haryana, where the national team was selected.
