I wish the BCCI or the government comes forward to support us

Visually challenged cricketers from Tamil Nadu were in the city recently to take part in the Challenger Trophy Cricket Tournament for the Blind 2018-2019, organised by Tamil Nadu Cricket Association for the Blind. The cricketers were divided into three teams, Team Red, Team Blue and Team Green. CT spoke to K Ramesh, the first-ever visually challenged cricketer from Tamil Nadu to represent India, who led Team Blue in the tournament.
K Ramesh (30) is a wicket-keeper batsman, who can also bowl, and he has been a part of the Tamil Nadu team for over a decade now. The youngster was an integral part of the Indian cricket team that lifted the World Cup in 2012 (T20) and 2014. “I started playing cricket when I was 13. I was in hostel from class V and I have seen my seniors play cricket, that’s how I developed interest in cricket. I was so passionate about the game that my seniors warned me not to take it seriously as blind cricket is not as popular as cricket and the income would be very less. But I didn’t listen to them and continued playing. I wanted to represent the country and that was my only goal. As I got hooked to the game, my interest in studies dipped. But I got selected as wicketkeeper in Tamil Nadu team in 2003 and I have been representing the country from 2010,” starts off Ramesh.

Ramesh belongs to the B3 category in the blind cricket team. Each team consists of four B1, three B2 and four B3 players. While B1 players are completely impaired, B2 have 35 percent vision and B3 have 50 percent vision. Though, Ramesh was a part of the team that beat Pakistan in the final of 2012 T20 World Cup in Bengaluru and the team that lifted the 50 over World Cup in 2014 at South Africa and several other bilateral tournaments, he says that he did not gain much.

“We were offered `15,000 per player after winning the 2012 T20 World Cup. For bilateral series against other countries, we get paid around Rs 5000. The only time we were felicitated properly was in 2014. On our return to the country, we were greeted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and were offered Rs5 lakh each. Otherwise, it is just disheartening to see what blind cricketers get in return for good performances. There are more than 250 blind cricketers in Tamil Nadu and most of them only play for fun as they know it is not going to get them anywhere. You are not even offered a job in sports quota even after being a part of the national team,” he says.

Ramesh is currently working in NLC India Limited in Neyveli. Ramesh says that he left the Indian cricket team and took an examination to get a job. “I didn’t have much pressure from home till I was 25. But, after that I had to support my parents financially, so I had to look for a job. 2014 World Cup was the last time I played for the country, after which I never went for the selections because it was not giving me anything to support my family. Now, just to keep my passion alive, I play for Tamil Nadu,” he says.

Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) is neither supported by BCCI nor the government, he informs. Ramesh continues, “I am constrained to say this, but I will think twice if someone asks me if I would like to play for the country again. If I go behind my passion, there would be no one to take care of my family; I have a wife and child to take care of, and I can’t afford to choose passion over family.” Ramesh says that many people are not even aware of the state of blind cricketers. “People see cricketers getting paid well and they may be thinking of the same about the visually challenged cricketers, too. But that’s not the case. I sincerely hope BCCI or the government support CABI, so that our players can achieve a lot more.”

CABI for the first time introduced a national level trophy for the blind cricketers called Nagesh National Level Cricket Tournament, which was held between November 2018 and February 2019. He says, “For the first time we had teams from 24 states take part in a national level tournament. The inaugural tournament happened last year; Tamil Nadu team progressed till Super 8. They say it will be organised annually, which is nice.”

As a piece of advice for the aspiring visually challenged cricketers, he says, “There are a lot of disadvantages, and financially there is nothing much there. Just like me, they should also hope things will change someday and continue playing. After me 22-year-old Venkatesh- munigaran from the state played for India recently. I want to tell the youngsters not to discontinue studies to play cricket. That is a blunder many people
commit.”