Colombo, July 18: The six-year winning streak of the Indian blind cricket team may have recently ended as they lost 1-2 to Sri Lanka recently but ahead of the five-match T20I series, Team India is gung-ho about their prospects.
Sri Lanka earned an unassailable 2-0 lead after beating India in the first two ODIs. Though India won the final ODI against the hosts, the victory was short-lived as the latter took home the series trophy. However, the second part of the bilateral series in Colombo will give a chance for India to stun the hosts in T20 cricket.
Indian blind cricket team's captain Ajay Reddy said the team was gutted after losing the ODI series but they want to turn it around in the first-ever bilaterial T20I series involving blind cricketers. He added that Sri Lanka took his team by surprise in the series and India perhaps underestimated their opponents.
India wins the 3rd ODI of the India vs Sri Lanka First-ever Bilateral Series in Columbo, Sri Lanka pic.twitter.com/uZMdjo9BX2
— Samarthanam Trust (@SamarthanamTFTD) July 17, 2018
Mahantesh GK, president of the Cricket Association for the Blind in India, felt Sri Lanka's victory over the visitors was a sign of increasing competition levels. "Sri Lanka winning against the world champions is good for the overall development of Blind Cricket at a global level," he said. "India may have lost the series but the newcomers in the squad gained some experience of playing international cricket."
John David, the head coach of the Indian blind cricket team and one of the selectors of CABI, said: "Some of the talented youngsters made a brilliant debut in the first part of the series. Bhaskar K, the new talent from Karnataka remained unbeaten at 29 in the 2nd ODI ,which marked the batting debut of the 21-year-old B3 player while facing Sri Lanka. The newcomers made a promising start in the series, which will definitely play a vital role in teaming up the Indian squad for the upcoming Blind Cricket World Cup."
The five-match T20I series will commence from Thursday, July 19 and all the matches will be played in Colombo.
T20I series schedule:
1st T20I: July 19
2nd T20I: July 20
3rd T20I: July 23
4th and 5th T20I: July 24
One can catch the live matches on the official YouTube channel of Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled by clicking here
Source: Press release