India vs England Mixed Disability T20 Series to start in England

Taunton [UK], June 20 (ANI): History will be made when the first-ever mixed disability T20 series between India and England starts in England on Saturday at Taunton, the home of Somerset County Cricket Club. During the landmark seven-match T20ls tour, the teams will also a match at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground on June 25, according to a release from DCCI.

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Led by Mumbai's Ravindra Gopinath Sante, India's mixed disability team arrived in London for the tour on June 15. The 16-member team, picked by the Differently-abled Cricket Council of India (DCCI), has prepared for the series by playing three practice matches against the England Lions Mixed Disability team at the Budleigh Salterton Cricket Club in Exeter.

Virendra Singh is the vice-captain of the team, while the teams head coach is former Rajasthan captain Rohit Jhalani. The team comprises six deaf, six physical disability and four intellectual disability players.

This format has been approved by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

"We thank the English Cricket Board and the BCCI for providing us with all the facilities which are given to the international players for this tour. We are playing all our matches on this tour on the first-class grouns of England," said Ravi Chauhan general secretary of the DCCI, as quoted from a release by DCCI.

"Our preparations have been good. We are looking forward to an exciting series, which wil raise the profile of mixed disability cricket," said Abhay Pratap Singh, Jt. Secretary, DSSI.

"As the BCCI secretary, Jay Shah provided us with complete support from the BCCI. We wish that as the ICC Chair, he would support this format too," Chauhan said. Before the first match at Taunton, both the teams will hold a two-minute silence and wear black armbands to pay their respects to the victims of the Air India plane crash in Ahemdabad on June 12.

The highlight of the tour will, of course, be the third T201 at Lord's on June 25, giving India's mixed disability team the rare honour of competing at the iconic 'Home of Cricket.' The date and the venue both make for a tremendous coincidence- 42 years back, India, led by the legendary Kapil Dev, had clinched the 1983 World Cup on June 25 at Lord's in 1983. June 25 is incidentally celebrated as the 'World Mixed Disability Day.'

The other standout fixture of the tour is scheduled for July 1 in Bristol, where the Indian mixed disability team will play their English counterparts, followed by a T20I between the women's teams of India and England in a double-header. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)