Mumbai Wheelchair Cricket Team gets its own jersey

The Mumbai Wheelchair Cricket Team celebrated a new milestone this week. The team now has its own jersey, and this was presented to the players and the world at a special event in Mumbai.

Indian fast bowler Dhaval Kulkarni lent his presence at the launch of the jersey of the Mumbai Wheelchair Cricket Team at the Colgate Ground in Bandra.

Kulkarni also bowled a few deliveries to wheelchair cricketers and praised their spirit for playing the game despite the challenges posed by their disability. He also made an appeal to the public to donate and support wheelchair cricket.

Mumbai is famous as India’s cricket capital and has set records by winning the prestigious Ranji Trophy title 41 times. The city is also home to some of India’s cricket greats like Vijay Merchant, Ajit Wadekar, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, among others. The Mumbai Indians have won more championships than any other team.

Little support

Yet when it comes to wheelchair cricket support and interest is not adequate. An attitude the Mumbai Wheelchair Cricket Team hopes to change. It aims to offer opportunities to wheelchair cricketers across Maharashtra to play at national and international levels.

Wheelchair cricket players are 70-90% physically challenged. They bat, bowl and filed on wheelchairs. The team includes players with different disabilities like polio, amputee, spinal cord injuries and cerebral palsy. A few players from the Mumbai team have also played for the national wheelchair cricket team. Yet it does not have any support from the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), or any other government body. – Rahul Ramugade, Captain, Mumbai Wheelchair Cricket Team

Funds from NGOs and some donors have been the mainstay for the players.

‘We appeal to people to support wheelchair cricket”, says Vishwanath Gurav, President, Wheelchair Sports Association Mumbai. “Although we play wheelchair cricket at national and International level, we don’t have a good flow of funds to arrange matches for wheelchair cricket players. To promote inclusivity in society via sports, we request you to support wheelchair cricket”