Good Sports: INDIA CHAMPS AGAIN IN BLIND CRICKET WORLD CUP
India is the defending champion of two cricket World Cups, having won the 2011 Cricket World Cup and the 2014 Blind Cricket World Cup. The latest triumph came at the expense of Pakistan in the final of last month’s Blind Cricket World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa.
It was the fourth edition of the Blind World Cup, which Pakistan had won two consecutive times (2002 and 2006). “We felt we were on top of the world,” Shekar Naik, 28, captain of the victorious team, told DNA. “Every player shed tears of happiness.
"We couldn’t hold it back. We all cried together, we all celebrated together, we all felt proud together.”
The sport uses a large ball filled with ball bearings, allowing players to use their ears to sense the direction of the ball.
“Visually impaired cricketers don’t just play for money, jobs, fame, or happiness,” Naik said. “We play to gain confidence; we play to prove that a blind man can do anything. Playing cricket gives us that extra motivation and energy.”
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