Visually-challenged athletes, who were playing as part of the two-day Swami Vivekananda Memorial Rolling Trophy 2015 State-Level Cricket Tournament at S. Vellaichamy Nadar College grounds here, evoked surprise and awe among the onlookers with their precision and deftness.
V. Mahendran, president of the association, said that the sixth edition of the State-level tournament had 11 teams from Madurai, Kanyakumari, Chennai, Virudhunagar, Puducherry, Salem, Theni, Tiruchi, Thanjavur, and Thiruvallur participating in four groups.
“The response to the tournament has always been positive and the Madurai team, which won the tournament last year, look poised to emerge victorious again,” he said. The matches for the various groups are being played simultaneously on the cricket grounds in SVN College, Madurai Kamaraj University, and SBOA School.
Explaining the format of the game, Mr. Mahendran said that 10 over matches were being played by the teams to qualify from the group stages into the quarter finals and semi-finals.
K. Ramesh, the only player from the State who was part of the Indian team which emerged victorious at the Cricket World cup for the visually challenged held in South Africa, said that the sport for the visually challenged was slowly getting recognised.
“After the visually-challenged world cup victory, we were felicitated by the State government which has encouraged more people to take to the sport. At present, however, we would like some support from the State government or the BCCI for cricket which would help many players like me achieve more,” said the cricketer, who is a part of the Madurai team.
The teams are guided by visually-challenged ex-cricketers who used to play for the district teams and are coached by them.
His teammates P. Saravanan, a government school teacher, and J. Bhoopathy, a second year student, said that the love for the game motivated them to join the team. “We have full time jobs and practise during the weekends. The tournament is a great way for us to meet and interact with players from across the State,” they added.
