Bangladesh blind cricket team are set to fly off to England Wednesday night (Thursday, 1:40am) to participate in the seventh edition of the IBSA World Games in Birmingham.
The 21-member Bangladesh contingent comprises 15 players, head coach, manager, assistant head coach cum physio and four officials.
International Blind Sports Association is organizing the Games where five teams - India, Pakistan, England, Australia and Bangladesh - will take part in men’s cricket event.
The squad remained the same from the third and last Blind Twenty20 World Cup in India in December last year where Bangladesh finished runners-up.
Lion Didarul Alam Chowdhury, senior vice chairman and CEO of Bangladesh Blind Cricket Council, informed at a press conference at the Bangladesh Olympic Association auditorium Wednesday that a blind cricket tournament was supposed to take place under Physically Challenged Committee of Bangladesh Cricket Board but it did not materialize due to the arrival of monsoon.
As part of the preparation, the team trained in Chittagong for nine days and at Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishthan for 15 days.
The organizers also added that the BCB paid the plane fare of 15 players and two coaches, amounting to Tk29,01,000, while Ispahani Group is the title sponsor.
“We became runners-up in the last blind T20 World Cup which is our best result till date. We want to carry on with same momentum. Hopefully we will perform well,” said captain Ashikur Rahman.
There are three types of physically disabled players in blind cricket – four out of 11 should be fully blind, three with 10-yard vision and four with 25-yard vision, informed the organizers.
The IBSA World Games, a multi-sport event for blind and partially sighted athletes, will be held from August 18-27 with the participation of more than 1,000 competitors from over 70 nations.
Bangladesh will begin their campaign against hosts England Monday at King Edward School before facing Pakistan (Tuesday), India (Wednesday) and Australia (Thursday) in the following three days of the group stage.