Indian Blind Cricket Team’s key factor in dominance - Total commitment

Indian blind cricket team, dubbed the Other Men in Blue and currently the world's best, have rewritten dominance in World Cups in a spectacular way. They have won four consecutive World Cups since 2012 (Two World T20s and two 40-over tournaments). In six years, they have lost just one series, which was recently in 2018 against Sri Lanka. However, they bounced back to thrash Sri Lanka 4-1 in T20s. They continued the winning run by going unbeaten in the tri-series involving England and whitewashing Sri Lanka 5-0 in T20s.

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On Tuesday, India took on Sri Lanka in what was the first historic Day-Night limited overs Blind cricket game at the Roshanara Cricket Club in New Delhi. Sri Lanka scored 319/8 but India, boosted by a century from Venkateswara and a double century opening partnership with Deepak Malik (84) gave the team a thumping six-wicket win.

‘Total commitment’

Ajay Kumar Reddy, the captain of the side, attributed the current trend of dominance to being in a great mental space and hard work.

“We have worked very hard on our weaknesses. John David, our coach, has ensured that we put in maximum effort. All the 17 players in side are committed to winning and there is no discontent if they are not picked in the side,” Reddy said in an exclusive chat to NewsNation after winning the game in Roshanara. 

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 Reddy is also impressed with the amount of new talent that is coming from all over the country. “Two players from Kashmir, Rohit Sharma and Mohammad Irfan, are making good progress. If they work hard, one day they can definitely be part of the side,” the skipper said.

Mission World Cup 2020

When asked about whether playing at night involved challenges, Reddy said, “There are not many adjustments required. For us, the conditions do not matter”.

Although the Indian team secured a big win, Reddy wants the momentum to continue. “Our first aim is to win the series but our key is winning the 2020 World Cup,” Reddy said.

The second match of the series will take place in Bhubaneswar on October 25.