The first World Cup was an eye-opener; the Second will still make you rub your eyes in disbelief. Yes, rarely did one come across a sight as inspirational as the First World Cup Cricket for the Blind that was held in New Delhi, India, in the year 1998.

This historic event will be replayed after four years in December this year, when India will, once again host the Second World Cup Cricket for the Blind. This time India along with five other Cricketing nations, which include Australia, England, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, will battle it out for eleven hard days to snatch the World from the reigning champions, South Africa. This mega-event will be held in Chennai, from the December 3-14 in all its blazing glory. The World Cup is being dedicated to the late Shri Madhavrao Scindia, who was the Patron of ACBI, right from its early years in 1990. Mr Scindia had been a constant friend, philosopher and guide to us.

The tournament, is an event authorized by the World Blind Cricket Council, and will be played on a League-cum-Knock out basis. The matches will be of 40-overs-a-side duration. The semi- finals will be played on the 12th of December at Chemplast IIT grounds and the CPT Indian Pistons grounds and the finals on the14th of December 2002 at the renowned M A Chidambaram stadium, Chennai. The league matches will be played between December 4-10 at the India Pistons grounds, SPIC YMCA grounds and the India Cements ground at Guru Nanak College.

For those who haven't seen it before, Cricket for the blind is a marvel of ingenuity, determination and application in sheer defiance of overwhelming odds. Indeed, few things in life can be more inspiring than the sight of 13 flanneled warriors battling visual impairment for the sheer joy of playing the noble game. The game is played with a white ball made of plastic and filled with tiny ball bearings that rattle when the ball moves. Each team comprises of the conventional 11 players and apart from a few modifications all the normal rules of regular Cricket apply.

Association for Cricket for the Blind in India was formally established in 1996 to take care of the Administration and Promotion of the game in India. The founding Chairman of ACBI, Mr George Abraham is also a prime mover behind the formation of the World Blind Cricket Council (WBCC). This council comprising seven major Cricket playing nations, saw the game being standardized with the formulation of set rules that would govern all future Tournaments. And India has now once again been rewarded for its initiative with the honor of holding the Second World Cup Cricket for the Blind 2002.

HSBC is official sponsor of Indian team

In making the World Cup Cricket for the Blind a reality, The HongKong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, which has been a long-term associate, has once again lent a helping hand and its resources. In the past, HSBC had also sponsored the Mobile Cricket Clinic for the blind called the HSBC Mobile Cricket Clinic. These clinics aimed to introduce the game in newer areas and help in promoting the game in different parts of the country. Today, ACBI and HSBC share the honor of announcing the Indian squad for the World Cup, captained by Ram Karan Sharma from Delhi. HSBC is now also the official sponsor for the Indian team comprising of seventeen members, a dedicated coach and a professional manager.

ACBI also has other esteemed partners who have associated themselves to the second World Cup Cricket for the blind such as the Indian Airlines, Blue Dart Express and Sight Savers International. ACBI has formed a strategic alliance with Cricinfo, the world's largest Cricket portals. Cricinfo would prominently feature the World Cup on its site and would give ball-by-ball coverage as well as results of all matches on a daily basis on www.acbi.cricinfo.com.

Freedom Scientific Inc., USA, developers of Assistive Technology Products for the Blind, along with their master Distributors for India & neighboring countries, Karishma Enterprises, Mumbai are sponsoring the Prizes. Each member of the Winning Team of the tournament would be awarded with JAWS - the software that makes computers talk and the Best Player of the Series would be awarded their latest innovation PAC Mate BNS - a portable Braille computer.

The Second World cup Cricket for the Blind provides the blind from various Continents and different walks of life with an opportunity to demonstrate their talents and potential. The focus here is on ability rather than disability. Therefore it is a glorious saga of the indomitable human spirit surmounting every obstacle through pure grit and determination. This tournament projects blind people as positive and active human beings with emotions, capabilities and ambitions, thus fostering social integration along with all-round development.

© CricInfo