IDCA wants deaf cricket's inclusion in Para Asian Games

IDCA wants deaf cricket's inclusion in Para Asian Games

IDCA is a founder member of Differently Abled Cricket Council of India (DCCI), which is being supported by BCCI.

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"We are working, we are already in touch with the Asian countries. We have already visited Hong Kong, which is one of the Asian countries who are ready to host the first Asian match with IDCA. But, right now, we are focussing on the World Cup," IDCA president Sumit Jain said here.

"We have got all the government certifications and some of them are under process which we will be getting very soon.

"Everything is in process right now and we are working very hard to get that into action very soon."

Even though they are being recognised and supported by BCCI, the IDCA doesn't get any monetary assistance from the nation's cricket board, which it hopes it will get in future.

"As of now, the BCCI has recognised us under DCCI and has been providing us kits and all other cricketing equipments. But there is no monetary support. We are hoping to get financial assistance from BCCI through DCCI in future," said IDCA CEO Roma Balwani.

"We have learnt that in 2025 cricket will be included in Paralympics, so we are hoping that this committee of BCCI will come in the forefront and get all the disability cricket teams to participate."

"We are only hoping, we would love at least one of our players if he or she can join the mainstream team. It has been Sumit's vision for over a decade," she said.

A 15-member Indian deaf cricket team, under Virendra Singh's captaincy, is set to participate in the Deaf International Cricket Council (DICC) T20 Champions Trophy 2024 to be held in Sharjah from March 6 to March 12.

Six countries -- Australia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and India -- will fight for the top honours.