Updated January 26th, 2023 at 13:50 IST
'We play for our nation not for..': India Blind Cricket Team Captain Ajay Kumar Reddy
Check out what Ajay Kumar Reddy, the captain of the Indian Blind Cricket Team said during an exclusive interview with Republic on the occasion of Republic Day.
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Members of the Indian blind cricket team spoke to Republic TV in an exclusive interview on the occasion of Republic Day 2023 and made many notable revelations. The Indian team won the Blind T20 World Cup for the third time in December 2022. India defeated Bangladesh by a margin of 120 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
In conversation with Republic TV, the India Blind Cricket team Ajay Kumar Reddy shed light on the milestone World Cup title triumph. “Thank you so much to introduce the world, especially to India about our achievement. Coming to our achievements, being a player, being a captain, I am really happy with my performance and my team's performance. Not only one time, but continuously thrice we won the championship. Not even in mainstream cricket they have achieved this feat,” Ajay Kumar Reddy told Republic.
“Being an Indian, we feel really proud of this achievement. I tell my boys they put everything to reach this level. I want to thank my each and every player and management. The thing is, once we enter the ground, we never think about our difficulties. We always think about what we can do for our country, and how we can make our country proud. This kind of thoughts make us more involved, more committed, and make us successful in this field,” he added.
#ProudToBeIndian | The back-to-back champions of the blind Indian cricket team shares their experience, challenges and difficulties while speaking to Republic TV. Tune in to watch updates here - https://t.co/HbKDYgaNDs pic.twitter.com/9UXG60cxHX
— Republic (@republic) January 26, 2023
"Treat us like sportspersons, don’t treat us in a sympathetic way"
On being asked about Blind cricket not getting much space in mainstream media, Reddy answered, “To be honest, we are not happy because other sports get many things, we are not getting even after winning the tournament”. The India blind cricket team captain then recalled what he urged to the cricket fans after winning the Blind T20 World Cup 2022.
“In the presentation ceremony, I mentioned only one thing. Treat us like sportspersons, don’t treat us in a sympathetic way. Like blind cricket, these people are listening blind word, because of which our talent is getting ignored. What we are doing for the country, they should consider that,” Reddy added.
Further explaining how they only want people to just treat them like sportspersons. “Sports is sports, like different situations with difficulties we are playing, but each and every person should treat us like sportsperson, how they do it with regular players. We are not less than anyone, we are equal to everyone, We are also carrying the Indian flag, we are also wearing the India jersey. We are not playing for our name, we are playing for India,” he said.
#ProudToBeIndian | The back-to-back champions of the blind Indian cricket team shares their experience, challenges and difficulties while speaking to Republic TV. Tune in to watch updates here - https://t.co/OkUiivdYx0 pic.twitter.com/gEApcfdAhp
— Republic (@republic) January 26, 2023
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Published January 26th, 2023 at 13:50 IST
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