A Salt Lake resident has been appointed coach of the Indian cricket team. No, he is not replacing Ravi Shastri. Aparup Chakraborty of BL Block is now the coach of the physically challenged national squad.
“I have taken over from the second week of April,” says the former captain of the national indoor cricket team.
The team played the first tournament under his guidance in the Tata Steelium Cup, a T-20 tri-series held in the Eastern Railway Sports Complex, Behala.
“The cricket rules are the same as what you are used to seeing. The only exception is runners are allowed for up to three players per team,” explains Aparup.
Even then, he received a jolt when he first walked into the players dressing room. “We are used to seeing bats and pads strewn about on the floor. Here there were artificial legs too. Before taking the field, the leg amputees take that one step extra — putting the leg on before padding up. That sight was testimony to the challenges they overcme just to reach the cricket field.”
The 35-year-old coach is full of admiration for the level of competitiveness he witnessed on the field in his maiden assignment. “We have a 6ft tall bowler called Mandeep Singh who has a hand missing from the left wrist. But he bowls right-handed at 130 kmph. The Bangladesh skipper fields with a crutch. Yet when a ball was speeding past him he threw his crutch aside and dived to save the boundary. As it would have taken him time to get up, another fielder who was able of feet came running to pick up the ball.”
India lost the final to Bangladesh but Aparup is counting the positives from the tournament.
“Unlike in India, disabled cricket in Bangladesh gets infrastructural support from their cricket board and financial aid from their government. Their openers are among the top five players internationally. Here we function under Disabled Sporting Society but there is talk of the Board of Cricket Control in India taking over as the Lodha Commission report recommends that. But there is good talent in the team which we can harvest.”
He is looking forward to scouting for more talent across the country through tournaments. “India and England have bid for the right to host the disabled cricket World Cup in 2019. I hope to have a strong contingent by then.”
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / by Sudehsna Banerjee / May 04th, 2018