Sports : Not a Blind Game

Behind the impressive win of T20 Blind World Cup by Team India is the overlooked struggle of the players, who had to fight against many odds to reach this level

Pramod Kumar
The visually impaired cricketers made India proud once again on February 12 at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru by winning T20 Blind World Cup beating Pakistan by 29 runs. It is the second T20 World Cup for the Blind that India hosted and won. The previous one was played in 2012. In 2014 also India defeated Pakistan and won the Blind Cricket World Cup at Cape Town in South Africa. In 2016, they won the Asian Championship.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, film star Shah Rukh Khan and many other high profile personalities congratulated the Team for the win. But the actual appreciation, felicitation and the pats that these players direly need in the form of job offers, monetory benefits, which are normally showered on the normal cricketers, seem missing. Union Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Vijay Goel, however, felicitated the Team in New Delhi on February 20, most of the Team members still await the job offers at least from their respective State governments, which offer jobs and monetory help to their players when they perform outstandingly.

Union Minister of State (IC) for Sports and Youth Affairs
Playing cricket by the visionless people and making the nation proud by winning the international events is not an easy task. There is long list of the odds that these visually impaired have to undergo everyday—both in the personal life and on the ground as well. Most of these players come from highly deprived background and have reached this level by practising with broken bats and without basic facilities on the ground. “There is none to help me in my family. My mother is also blind. We are only two members in the family, as my father has divorced my mother. We have no source of income. Mother is always worried how the family will survive if I continue to play cricket only. She insists me to work in the field or do any job. Even then I continued my practice and helped India win the World Cups,” says Sukhram Manjhi, who belongs to Odisha and has been playing since 2011. He also played Asia Cup in 2016. “We too play for the country. But we do not get any facility. I request the PM Sir to ensure us the same facilities, which are granted to the normal players,” Manjhi adds.

The struggle of Sonu Golkar who belongs to Khandwa District of Madhya Pradesh, too is no different. “Our first struggle begins from the family itself. My father is a daily wager. You can imagine how he could fulfill the requirements of a visually impaired player. We could not get good education due to financial issues. Our second struggle is with the society, because it is not positive towards the persons with disability. Wherever you go, you have to face barriers. We have to face challenges at every step. Winning the World Cup is a dream of every cricketer. Even Sachin waited for it for many years. We need equal recognition. What other people are doing, we too are doing. Why should we be discriminated on the basis of disability?” asks Golkar.
Father of Venkateshwara Rao too is a daily wager. He belongs to URK Puram Village under Srikakulam District of Andhra Pradesh. He was normal by birth and even attended the normal school in childhood. But he lost his eyes while playing cricket, as a ball hit his right eye. “I did not tell about it even to my mother, because I felt she would beat me. Secondly the family did not have money for the treatment. Gradually, I lost my eye sight in one year. Then after some time the vision in the left eye too got affected. Finally, I landed up in a blind school in Visakhapatanam, where I started playing cricket. Instead of focusing on my studies, I focused on cricket only. I am the sole bread earner for my family now, but I don’t have any means for it. The State government too has offered nothing till now,” he says.
Deepak Malik, who comes from a farmer’s family under Bainswal Village of Sonipat District in Haryana, too was not visually impaired by birth. He lost his eyes at the age of 9 due to firecrackers on Deepawali. Even then he has high passion for cricket. He played the last World Cup also. “I did not get much encouragement for cricket because the craze in Haryana is more for Wrestling and Kabaddi. Many people ridiculed me when I played cricket. But I never paid attention to them. I did not have money even to purchase the kits. I got the motivation to play for the country while studying at the blind school at Panchkuian Road, Delhi. In the name of appreciation I did not get even oral congratulations from my govt,” he says.
Prakash Jayaramaiah, who comes from Channapatna in Bengaluru, too was normal by birth, but lost both his eyes in an accident. He was totally blind for 8 years. Then he got slight vision in the right eye (only up to six metres) after a surgery. He has so far played 59 matches and has made 39 centuries. He has been Man of the Series and Best Wicket Keeper during the previous World Cup too. His father was a truck driver, but now he is at home after an accident. Therefore, his mother manages the family by stitching clothes. “Our team is four times World Cup winner. But nobody thinks about us. Karnataka Government has announced a job and Rs seven lakh for two of its players. What Karnataka has done needs to be done by other State governments also so that all the players live a dignified life,” he says.
Captain of the Team Ajay Kumar Reddy belongs to a village in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh. He is a lucky one as he has got a job in State Bank of Hyderabad and the bank provides him lot of help in the form of kits and special leaves. India won Asian Championship under his captaincy in 2016. “All the players are not lucky like me. Zafar also does a government job in Odisha, but he does not get even special leaves for playing. He lost more than 30 days” salary for the World Cup. The State  government also does not encourage him. In other sports, the players get all  facilities, but we do not. Ketan Patel’s father is critically sick, but the family does not have sufficient money for his treatment. He continued to get calls for financial support during the match also,” he says.
“Most of our struggle is for financial help, because most of the team members do not have strong financial background. We do not have problem while playing cricket. But when it comes to the facilities for training and resources to survive, we face lot of issues. When we played at the school and college level, we did not have even proper bats. We practised with the handcrafted damaged bats, as we had no money to buy standard bats. Now even after winning the World Cup, the team got nothing i.e. job, minimum financial support, etc. Only Karnataka Government promised jobs to both of its players and some cash prize. We are yet to get similar promises from other State governments or the Central Government. Players have the dream to win gold in Olympics, while in cricket we have the dream to win World Cup. We won the World Cup but still struggle to get recognition. ‘Samarthanam’ had to mortgage its property to arrange funds for preparing for the World Cup. I expect Government of India to issue a circular to all the State governments advising them to grant jobs to all the sports achievers depending upon their education and performance,” he adds.
Visual challenge is no issue for these players. What lacks is the missing infrastructure for training and practice. “Since the players are not from the affluent families, their training is a crucial issue. They do not get time and opportunity to practice at home. When we organise training camps, only then they can practice. They do not have even good bats. It is very difficult to cope up with all those issues. Even during practice some of them are stressed whether their family members have got meals or not. Some even request in the middle of the practice to go back home because they feel there is none there to ensure meals for their family members. In that situation we have to prepare them mentally also. It is extremely disappointing to see that they do not get anything even after winning World Cups. I feel the Government should offer them support,” says Coach of the team Patrick Rajkumar.
Assistant Coach Sujukumar wants the people to change their mindset. “These people are not disabled, they are differently-abled. That is why they have lifted not one, but three World Cups in 2012, 2014 and 2017. We have also lifted the Trophy in 2016 Asia cup. It is a great privilege for us that the PM has appreciated us. These players can do more wonders if they get due attention from all concerned authorities,” he says.
The main force behind the miracle that these visually impaired players have done is ‘Samarthanam’, a Bengaluru based Trust formed by GK Mahantesh and Nagesh on February 26, 1997. Mahantesh, himself a visually impaired, heads the Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) which was formed in 2010-11. “The condition of these players is beyond imagination. Keeping in view their contribution the kind of respect they get is completely deplorable. Hardly do people know and recognise them. Even those who know them do not give respect they command. They deserve admiration, recognition, rewards, awards, cash prizes and also jobs. Support from government, companies, individuals, BCCI, other cricket bodies and organisations can help them lead a dignified life,” he says.
Mahantesh is happy over the
helping hand extended by Indusind Bank. But that is insufficient to meet all the expenses. “The Government of India can do a lot for us. Recognition by the Ministry of Sports is very crucial. If we have recognition, automatically the facilities for the players will fall in place. Regular financial support will help us to plan development of the game, identify new talent, nurture and encourage us. Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disability and MHRD too should come out with some schemes. There can be special provisions for the visually challenged under the schemes like Khelo India,” Mahantesh stresses.
Talent surely needs recognition and admiration. The way these visually challenged players have made the country proud needs support as is extended to the normal cricketers.     n