Disability cricketers have welcomed the decision of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to form a Differently Abled Committee for the differently abled cricketers.
On the basis of the recommendation of the Justice Lodha committee, a board of three former disabled cricketers was being awaited for the last several years. Finally, the proposal to create a Differently Abled Committee was approved in the BCCI’s annual meeting on December 4, 2021 in Kolkata, headed by president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah.
The decade-long effort to gain an official name for disability cricket (physically challenged, blind, and deaf) has come to an end with BCCI’s recognition. The Differently Abled Cricket Council of India (DCCI) thanked the BCCI for taking this step towards the betterment of disability cricket.
We, the DCCI, are grateful to @JayShah @SGanguly99 @ThakurArunS and to all the esteemed state and affiliated units of the BCCI for forming the Differently Abled cricket committee. It's the first time the @BCCI has recognised disability cricketers and taken us in their wings. pic.twitter.com/fWDydTKD9V
— Differently Abled Cricket Council of India (@dcciofficial) December 8, 2021
Indian Women’s cricket team’s ODI and Test skipper Mithali Raj also lauded BCCI for this move. “Kudos to @BCCI for such an inspirational & historic decision”, she wrote on the microblogging site twitter.
Kudos to @BCCI for such an inspirational & historic decision. https://t.co/4NaXnVkMqJ
— Mithali Raj (@M_Raj03) December 12, 2021
Bright Future for Disability cricket in India
Disability cricket would be more efficient under the BCCI, according to those who have ran the show for so long. It should be noted that Disability cricket has its own section under the national boards of England, Australia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. With this historic decision, the Indian disability players can also expect to get annual contracts.
Ajit Wadekar, the late former India captain, was the first to introduce cricket for the physically disabled in the country. He spoke with former BCCI presidents, but the wait went on. It has taken nearly five years to eventually establish the Differently-abled committee after the Supreme Court’s initial verdict in 2016.
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