Coimbatore: Visually challenged cricket players battle it out

COIMBATORE: When in his school days, Venkateshmunigaran, 22, a student with low vision, used to play cricket with friends, he would mostly be made a fielder and rarely a bowler, but never a batsman. But now, he has taken up playing cricket meant for visually challenged people.

He has become not only an all-rounder but also the captain of the cricket team in Tamil Nadu.

Like him, around 40 visually challenged and visually impaired cricket players, forming three teams from across the state, have converged in the city to participate in the ‘Challenger Trophy Cricket Tournament for the Blind 2018-19’, a rolling trophy held at the ground on the Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding campus in the city.


While there have been tournaments for visually challenged cricket teams in the state, organisers said this was the first time a rolling trophy is being held. The tournament is being held by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association for the Blind and two other charitable forums: Sangamam Charitable Trust and Saksham Trust.

Secretary of Sangamam Trust and a trainer for differently abled people, R Jagannathan, said the cricket for visually challenged has a separate set of rules than the normal cricket. Underarm bowling is usually practised. “The ball used is called ‘sound ball’ as visually impaired people can play only by hearing the sound of the ball rolling on the ground,” he said. The pitch should be even so that the ball rolls. It should not have mats so that the ball's sound is heard, he added.

the players have categorised three ways: B1 category consists of totally blind players, B2 category has players with a vision up to 3m and B3 category, players with 6m vision. A team has 15 players, four of whom are substitutes. In the 11-player team, four must mandatorily be totally blind players from the B1 category, said Venkateshmunigaran, a BA History student in Chennai and a national player, who heads the Tamil Nadu Green team. “The other seven players can be a mix from B2 and B3 categories,” he said.

While the Indian blind cricket team is strong enough to lift a world cup, the awareness about the game is lacking in the state, players said. They said that they needed more facilities such as dedicated grounds and professional coaches to get trained for national tournaments.

“Right now, we are practising on ordinary pitches. If we get a good pitch, we could practise better. The game also needs state support so annual tournaments are held properly,” said Sivamuthu Pandiyan, 26, a B1 category player from Madurai.