Ramesh Sartape will lead a 13-member Indian team for the Asia Cup of Wheelchair Cricket Tournament to be held in Kathmandu from October 4 to 9. Releasing the name of the Indian team for the five-nation tournament, CEO of Divyang Cricket Control Board of India (DCCBI), Ghazal Khan said that besides India, other teams to take part in the prestigious tournament are Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
According to Ms Khan, Parshuram Desale will be the vice-captain of the team. Other members of the team are: Manoj Sansarkar, Mohd Adil, Lalit Pathak, Shivaji Pawar, Pankaj Paruthi, Manoj Parmar, Manu Singh, Tejpal Yadav, Vikas Lamba, Koteshwar, Suresh, Santosh Kokare, and Ramachandran D. The Indian team was announced after deliberation in a virtual meeting in which General Secretary DCCBI Haroon Rasheed, Chairman Ikrant Sharma, President Mukesh Kanchan, Chief Selector Ashish Shrivastava, Senior Vice President Swatantra Kumar, Coach Manish Sharma and CEO DCCBI Ghazal Khan took part. The team will depart from Gorakhpur on October 2nd.
Earlier Asia Cup was organized in 2019 at the same ground in Kathmandu where the nail-biting final match went till the last ball. In this match, Pakistan had edged-past India to win the Asia Cup. According to Haroon Rasheed, General Secretary DCCBI this time Indian team is stronger and hopefully “will win and become the Asian Champion’’
The Asia Cup of Wheelchair Cricket is not only a display of the players’ talent, but it also serves as a platform for raising awareness and promoting inclusivity. The tournament aims to highlight the remarkable skills and determination of differently-abled athletes in the sport of cricket.