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Ahead of the T20 World Cup for the Blind, Team India captain Ajay Kumar Reddy has urged the Indian government and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to financially support the Indian team and said that the differently abled cricketers need financial support too because they received very fewer sponsors.
The World Cup would be held in India from December 6 to 17. The third T20 World Cup for the Blind had announced a 17-member India squad and Yuvraj Singh as the brand ambassador of the tournament. India and Pakistan are set to lock horns at the Siri Fort Ground on December 7. Ajay Kumar Reddy said that the team can't focus on their game as there is no financial support for them. He further said that despite winning four World Cups the condition of blind cricket is bad as they don't have jobs like other players. "The thing is that for the last four years we have been waiting. We have requested the government of India and BCCI also to support cricket for the blind because blind cricket needs financial support. Differently abled cricketers need financial support because we used to get very less sponsors. We can't focus on our game because there is no financial support like any normal guy who plays cricket for India he doesn't have to look at the financial situation but for us despite winning four World Cups the condition of blind cricket is such still they don't have jobs," India captain Ajay Reddy told ANI. Nepal, Bangladesh, Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are the other participating nations. Ajay Kumar Reddy, also from Andhra Pradesh, will serve as the team's captain, and Venkateswara Rao Dunna as vice-captain. The first game will take place on December 6 in Faridabad between the reigning champions India and Nepal. "They still have to depend on daily work. This is the situation. BCCI took a good step by forming a committee like DCCI to support all the differently abled cricketers but the route map has not yet come despite that. If they do it then at least it will be a good start. BCCI and the government of India should do some," he further added. India squad: Category of players (B1 - totally blind; B2 - partially blind - 2 to 3 metres of vision; B3 - partially sighted - 3 to 6 metres of vision) -- Lalit Meena-B1 (Rajasthan), Praveen Kumar Sharma-B1 (Haryana), Sujeet Munda-B1 (Jharkhand), Nilesh Yadav-B1 (Delhi), Sonu Golkar-B1 (Madhya Pradesh), Sovendu Mahata-B1 (West Bengal), I Ajay Kumar Reddy-B2 (Andhra Pradesh), Venkateswara Rao Dunna-B2 (Andhra Pradesh), Nakula Badanayak-B2 (Odisha), Irfan Diwan-B2 (Delhi), Lokesha-B2 (Karnataka), Tompaki Durga Rao-B3 (Andhra Pradesh), Sunil Ramesh-B3 (Karnataka), A Ravi-B3 (Andhra Pradesh), Prakash Jayaramaiah-B3 (Karnataka), Deepak Malik-B3 (Haryana) and Dhinagar G-B3 (Puducherry). (ANI)
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