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The sixth edition of Men's National T20 Cricket Tournament for the Blind 2023-24 also known as Nagesh Trophy, kicked off on Thursday with four teams battling out on Day 1 here in Jammu.
The Nagesh Trophy is being played from November 23, 2023, to January 30, 2024. The League stage will be played till December 29, 2023. In the first match of the League stage of the Nagesh Trophy in Group E, Jammu & Kashmir thrashed Indian Railways by 82 runs here at the University of Jammu. In the second match of the league stage on Thursday, Goa defeated Punjab by three wickets here at the University of Jammu. Batting first, Jammu and Kashmir slammed a mammoth total of 234/4 in the allotted 20 overs with Mohammad Azeem scoring 158 runs in just 77 balls. The side then bowled out Railways for 152 in 18 overs to kickstart their campaign with a win. The second match of the league stage turned out to be a nail-biter as Goa defeated Punjab by three wickets in the last over. Batting first, Punjab bowled out for 161in the allotted 20 overs. Goa initially struggled in the chase but a fine batting performance by Ravi M made sure the side crossed the line with 2 balls to spare. Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has also joined hands with the Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) as a Brand Ambassador for the Nagesh Trophy. On Friday, Railways and Goa will meet in the first match of the day while Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir will face off each other in the second game here at University of Jammu. After the league matches end on December 29, 2023, the Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) in association with the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled will hold the Super 8 Stage Matches at Nagpur, Maharashtra in January 2024. The league matches of the 6th edition of the IndusInd Bank Nagesh Trophy will be played across 6 venues namely, Jammu, Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Kochi (Kerala), Chandigarh, Agartala (Tripura), and Kota (Rajasthan). A total of 28 Teams (State /UT's and an Indian Railways team which is represented by the Visually Impaired working in Railways) will play in the T20 format Tournament. 28 teams are divided based on last year's ranking into six groups. The first four groups have five teams each and the last two teams have four teams each. The fifth edition had the joint winners (Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka) due to the rain. Odisha has won the Nationals once while Andhra Pradesh had emerged victorious in the finals of the tournament 3 times. Group A: Group A brings together teams from Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. Group B: Group B will have trams from Karnataka, Delhi, Maharashtra, Pondicherry, and Uttarakhand. Group C: In Group C, the stage is set for a competitive showdown as Odisha, Jharkhand, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar face off. Group D: Group D is a collection of teams, featuring Gujarat, Chandigarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana. Group E: Jammu & Kashmir, Railway, Punjab, and Goa will compete against each other in Group E. Group F: Group F comprises teams from the north-eastern and central regions of India. Manipur, Assam, Tripura, and Chhattisgarh will showcase their talents. The Nagesh Trophy was launched in the memory of Late SP Nagesh, Founder and President of the Cricket Association for the Blind in India and Founder Trustee, Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled. The launch of the tournament brought together the entire blind cricket community into one huge platform, by creating a milestone in blind cricket history. (ANI)
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