India Orange wins NTT DATA Champions Trophy 2022

Press Release, Jul 21, 2022, 7:53 PM IST

Bengaluru: The finals of the NTT Data Champions Trophy were played between India Red and India Orange.

India Orange won the toss and chose to field first.

Batting 1st India Red scored 169 runs by losing 9 wickets in the limited 20 overs, after losing the quick wickets in the early stage of the innings with 93 Runs for 6 wickets in 12.3 Overs, with the help of Prakash Jayaramaiah’s 64 runs with 40 Balls and D Venkateswara Rao 16 Balls 26 runs helped team to a Manageable total of 169 in 20 overs

Chasing the target of 169 runs India Orange lost early wickets but the partnership between Durga Rao and Deepak Rawat helped with the title for the team. Durga Rao scored 60 runs in 33 balls with 8 Fours and his Partner Deepak Rawat scored 22 runs of 15 Balls with 2 Fours.

India Orange won the match by 4 wickets and won the NTT DATA Champions Trophy for the blind 2022.

T Durga Rao (India Orange) was declared the Man of the Match.

The Closing Ceremony was attended by Neeraj Jaitley, Global Leader, Managed Infrastructure and Workplace Services, Ankur Dasgupta, Vice President, Global CSR and India Marketing, Gauri Bahulkar, Director, Global CSR, and India EBC, Shri Shreyas Gopal, Cricketer, Dr. Mahantesh G Kivadasannavar, Founder and Chairman, Samarthanam International.

President Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) and Roop Singh Kirar, Advocate CABI MP.

The awards included trophies for Winner, Runner-up, Man of the Matches, and Man of the Series (3nos) (for B1, B2, and B3 Categories).

The winning trophy was presented by Neeraj Jaitley, Global Leader, Managed Infrastructure and Workplace Services, Dr. Mahantesh G Kivadasannavar, Founder and Chairman, Samarthanam International President Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI), Shri Shreyas Gopal, Cricketer to Captain of India Orange Deepak Malik with Cash prize of Rs. 75,000.

The Runner trophy was presented by Neeraj Jaitley, Global Leader, Managed Infrastructure and Workplace Services, Dr. Mahantesh G Kivadasannavar, Founder and Chairman, Samarthanam International President Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI), Shri Shreyas Gopal, to Captain of India Red D Venkateswara Rao with Cash prize of Rs. 50,000.

The trophies and certificates were presented by Neeraj Jaitley, Global Leader, Managed Infrastructure & Workplace Services, NTT DATA Services, and Shreyas Gopal to the players.

Lalit Meena (INDIA RED) was declared Man of the Series (B1), while Nakula Badanayak (India Blue) was declared Man of the Series (B2)

Meanwhile, Sukhram Majhi (WK) India Yellow won Man of the Series (B3)

Gauri Bahulkar, Director, Global CSR, NTT DATA Services applauded Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled and CABI for driving such a life-changing program designed for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), which beyond giving them an opportunity to show their talent, allows them to excel and thrive.

Speaking at the finals post-match presentation she said, “At NTT DATA we are constantly looking for causes that we can connect with on a deeply emotional level and this program ticks that box along with so many others. Each of the 56 players who have been a part of the 12-day NTT DATA National Coaching Camp for the Blind are winners to us as they have won in the game of life with their resilience and willingness to face every challenge head-on. I speak for all our NTT DATA team members when I say that we will always be rooting for their win on and off this cricket ground.”

In his address, Dr. Mahantesh G.Kivadasannavar, President of World Blind Cricket thanked all dignitaries and supporters from across India and NTT DATA  “The players got a qualitative 12-day quality coaching schedule to focus on improving their performance. They would be much equipped to play against the best teams in the world.  Thanks to NTT DATA for making the blind cricketers feel fresh mentally and physically.”

The prime objective behind promoting blind cricket is to abandon the feeling of denial and dependency in the minds of the visually impaired players and enhancing opportunities by adopting blind cricket as a career.