Despite some of them donning the India jersey and playing in World Cups, Mumbai’s disabled cricketers — those who are hearing and visually impaired, wheelchair-bound and physically challenged — have been meted out step-motherly treatment by Mumbai Cricket Association.
Repeated appeals to MCA to form a differently-abled cricketers’ committee, as mandated by its own constitution, have fallen on deaf ears. Letters have been sent and calls made seeking action ever since the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) set up a national-level committee in 2022, two years after forming the Differently-Abled Cricket Council of India (DCCI), but in vain. Pankaj Chaudhary, president of the Cricket Association for the Blind in Maharashtra, has played since 1995. His group helped unify cricket bodies for the visually handicapped and organised a blind cricket World Cup in 2022. “We requested a ground from MCA, but it refused,” he said, adding, “It became a matter of self-respect and confidence to continue playing.”
Only a last-minute intervention by MLA Ashish Shelar helped secure the ground at Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana in Kandivli. “We were making rounds of MCA offices for three months,” Chaudhary recalled. At the moment, disabled cricket associations like his are running on private and CSR funds. “Private donors can’t offer the kind of support BCCI or its affiliates can,” Rahul Ramugade, a wheelchair cricketer, said. In 2019, after India won the Physical Disability Cricket World Series defeating England by 36 runs in the final, BCCI awarded the team Rs 65 lakh. “Four associations funded the tournament. BCCI allowed us to represent the country. The money came in only after we won,” a player from Mumbai from that team said. “It is not only about the prize money,” he noted, adding, “It is about all the support that pours in once disabled cricket is connected to bodies like MCA.”
MCA’s own constitution requires it to form a three-member committee of former India players with disabilities to oversee team selections and unify cricket bodies. Yet, its officials claim confusion over which associations to recognise. “There are at least 12 associations that have approached us, but they must come under one umbrella,” MCA secretary Abhay Hadap said, admitting that he had not reviewed the constitutional provision. He said while BCCI has formed DCCI, there’s been no directive to state units about recognising it.
(With inputs from Aaliyah Berchman)
Repeated appeals to MCA to form a differently-abled cricketers’ committee, as mandated by its own constitution, have fallen on deaf ears. Letters have been sent and calls made seeking action ever since the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) set up a national-level committee in 2022, two years after forming the Differently-Abled Cricket Council of India (DCCI), but in vain. Pankaj Chaudhary, president of the Cricket Association for the Blind in Maharashtra, has played since 1995. His group helped unify cricket bodies for the visually handicapped and organised a blind cricket World Cup in 2022. “We requested a ground from MCA, but it refused,” he said, adding, “It became a matter of self-respect and confidence to continue playing.”
Only a last-minute intervention by MLA Ashish Shelar helped secure the ground at Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana in Kandivli. “We were making rounds of MCA offices for three months,” Chaudhary recalled. At the moment, disabled cricket associations like his are running on private and CSR funds. “Private donors can’t offer the kind of support BCCI or its affiliates can,” Rahul Ramugade, a wheelchair cricketer, said. In 2019, after India won the Physical Disability Cricket World Series defeating England by 36 runs in the final, BCCI awarded the team Rs 65 lakh. “Four associations funded the tournament. BCCI allowed us to represent the country. The money came in only after we won,” a player from Mumbai from that team said. “It is not only about the prize money,” he noted, adding, “It is about all the support that pours in once disabled cricket is connected to bodies like MCA.”
MCA’s own constitution requires it to form a three-member committee of former India players with disabilities to oversee team selections and unify cricket bodies. Yet, its officials claim confusion over which associations to recognise. “There are at least 12 associations that have approached us, but they must come under one umbrella,” MCA secretary Abhay Hadap said, admitting that he had not reviewed the constitutional provision. He said while BCCI has formed DCCI, there’s been no directive to state units about recognising it.
(With inputs from Aaliyah Berchman)
