Indian physical disability cricket squad for five-match T20 series against England announced

Chandigarh: Mumbai’s Vikrant Keni will lead 16-member Indian physical disability cricket team for the T20 five-match series against England to be held in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, starting from January 28 to February 6.

The series has been organised by Differently abled Cricket Council of India (DCCI) and supported by BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India).   

Announcing the national squad on Sunday, the DCCI named all-rounder Keni as the captain, while Jammu and Kashmir batsman Wasim Iqbal was named his deputy. 

The 16-member squad comprises two wicketkeepers, Yogendra B (Madhya Pradesh) and Lokesh Marghade (Vidarbha).

A week-long training camp was held at the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royal’s High Performance Centre in Nagpur, Maharashtra, from January 14 to 20.

The camp was conducted under the supervision of former Rajasthan Ranji team captain Rohit Jhalani, who has also been named the head coach of the Indian team.

“On the behalf of the entire physical disability cricket fraternity we want to thank BCCI’s Honorary Secretary Jay Shah for providing the platform to the differently-abled cricketers to showcase their talent. Forming the DCCI was one of the historic initiatives and a game-changing one for the differently-abled cricket in India. It is through his guidance and support that for the first time the differently-abled cricketers of India are given an equal platform to play the sport,” Ravi Kant Chauhan, general secretary of DCCI. “The international exposure of a series with England was only possible because of the efforts of Jay Shah and BCCI and we hope that in future with the help of BCCI, we would able to provide more platforms for differently able cricket in India.”

Indian Team: Vikrant Keni (C) (Mumbai), Wasim Iqbal (VC) (Jammu and Kashmir), Swapnil Munghel (Maharashtra), Shanmugam D (Tamil Nadu), Jaffar Amin Bhat (Jammu and Kashmir), Radhika Prasad (Uttar Prasad), Ravindra Sante (Mumbai), Yogendra B (Madhya Pradesh), Lokesh Marghade (Vidarbha), Majid Ah Magray (Jammu and Kashmir), Pawan Kumar (Haryana), Moh Sadiq (Delhi), Duvvuru Akhil Reddy (Andhra Pradesh), Aamir Hassan (Jammu and Kashmir), Sunny (Haryana), Shiv Shankara GS (Karnataka).