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Cricket Associaton for the Blind in India (CABI) hopeful of BCCI opening its eyes

Embarking on a tour of England and Bahrain, captain of Indian blind cricket team Naik and manager David confident next year's World T20 will show them some light

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Members of Indian blind cricket team pose by the Worli seaface in Mumbai on Friday
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Captain of the Indian blind cricket team, Shekar Naik, takes pride in the fact that, like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, he too has won the Twenty20 and 50-over World Cups. That maybe the only similarity between the two.

Ask Naik what the differences are, and there are a host of issues that have not been looked into.

Besides the side receiving no source of income in the form of match fees, these men in blue are not affiliated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). What's even more shocking is that these players have to resort to their respective state government for funds for certain tours.

As Naik & Co flew out on Friday night for their tour of England (3 ODIs, 3 T20s) followed by a trip to Bahrain, four players from their World Cup-winning batch – Ramesh from Tamil Nadu, Golu Kumar from Jharkhand, Amol from Maharashtra and Farhan from Kerala – were left out due to their states not having the funds to send them.

It's his job with the Samarthanam Trust for the disabled, and not cricket, where Naik makes his money from. "Majority of our team either studies or works elsewhere because there is no other choice. All of us have taken leave from our respective offices for the next two weeks. We've been practicing in Valsad for the tour for the past two weeks. We know our salary is going to be cut. We have no other option. This is also a reason why many visually impaired don't take this up professionally," said Naik, visually impaired since birth, on Friday.

Sharing the same sentiment was John David, the team manager. "We don't receive any sort of match fees. The only money we ever got were cash prizes from the national and state governments post our victory in South Africa last year where we beat Pakistan. If it wasn't for some of the state governments who have sponsored their respective players, we wouldn't have the funds for this tour. Some players are lucky just because they belong to a certain state. We play against England, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Australia on an international level but we still lack in the most important department. Take our neighbours Pakistan, for example. The public there post their World Cup wins in 2002 and 2006 took their recognition as a personal matter and fought against the PCB. And today, players get Rs 8,000 for a T20 and Rs 10,000 for an ODI."

David also goes on to add the importance of the BCCI helping in next year's tournament being up to world standards. "Corporates will fund us knowing that we come under the BCCI. The same thing goes for getting grounds to play. As far as Mumbai is concerned, we're looking at the Cricket Club of India. That shouldn't be a problem. Another thing that needs to be done at the earliest is the live telecast of our matches. People need to know things before and not after we play a match."

If two World Cup wins (World T20 in 2012 and 50-over World Cup in 2014) weren't enough to get BCCI's attention, Naik will be presented with the opportunity to win the World T20 next year in front of his home crowd. Naik and his men in blue have the chance to make the BCCI 'see' what's right in front of them.

"I think that will be the day when the BCCI will finally take Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) under its wings. The entire squad will give their blood and sweat to win it in front of their home crowd next year. It'll be heartbreaking if we win and things don't materialise from there. What more will we have to do?" said Naik, who has been part of the Indian team since 2002 and will be touring England for the third time.

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