John David challenges India's senior team to play a blindfolded match against the blind team

The Indian blind cricket team is arguably one of the most successful teams in the history of the sport. They won the World Cup during the previous two editions of the tournament in 2014 and 2018. After winning the premier 50-over World Cup, they also clinched two World T20 titles in the year 2012 and 2017. Witnessing the rise of cricket, the CABI secretary has challenged Virat Kohli and his troops to play a game blindfolded against the blind team.

John David, the Secretary of Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) recalled that the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Rohit Sharma also had a hard time when they tried to play blindfolded. He also went on to say that the duo struggled to pick the ball as they were not able to trace the line and length. Being bit emotional, he said, it’s not that easy as it appears.

He was quoted by India Today as saying,”Our team got to play a bit against the mainstream Indian team in 2015. Ravi Shastri bowled and commented, ‘If I shut my eyes for a moment, I don’t know where I am.”

Jadeja and Rohit struggled

He further expressed his desires by saying that it would be great if the match goes live and populous get to witness two quality teams playing against each other. He said, “(Recently) they played a demo match where the Indian team was blindfold. Ravindra Jadeja was kneeling down and searching for the ball and Rohit mocked giving a tap on the head, you can’t even trace the ball. People will know about the level of difficulty that goes into playing cricket without eyesight.”

Lastly, watching the rise of this team, CABI approached the penultimate body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) seeking support for the players with proper practice facilities. It has been believed that BCCI well might consider CABI’s request.