When Sourav Ganguly became the president of BCCI, many had hoped that he would change the fate of the board as he had done with the Indian cricket during his captaincy years. Especially, the disabled cricketers were very hopeful that someone would finally look into their matter and change their lives. Their hopes further rose when Ganguly met the differently-abled cricketers several times. However lately, hope has turned into disappointment. As per the Lodha Committee reforms, Monday marked an end to Ganguly’s term as the BCCI president.
When the Lodha Committee appointed by the Supreme Court had recommended forming a Disability Cricket Committee for the development of the Physically Challenged Cricket in India, BCCI was forced to adopt it in its new Constitution. On page 70 of the newly adopted constitution of the BCCI, Clause F mandates the BCCI to form a ‘Differently Abled Cricket Committee’ which in consultation with Cricket Talent Committee would select the DifferentlyAbled National Teams across all age groups for representation in Tests, One Day, T20 or any other format.
Ravi Chauhan, SecretaryGeneral Physically Challenged Cricket Association of India (PCCAI) says that the condition of the players was already bad before Covid-19 and after that, it has become worse. “These players are good. They don’t want people to pity them, all we want is equal opportunity. The cricket boards of England, South Africa, and even Pakistan have got a disability wing, but for some reason, BCCI has completely overlooked this issue in this country. We have written many letters and made many representations to BCCI, but our prayers have met deaf ears”.