Deaf Chennai Blasters Team wins IDCA 4th Deaf Indian Premier League 2023 held in Merlin Rise, Sports City, Club Pavilion Cricket Ground, Rajarhat, Kolkata, West Bengal.

by Priya Jadhav

The finale match was played between Deaf Bangalore Badshahs and Deaf Chennai Blasters on April 27^th 2023 in Kolkata. 

The felicitation ceremony was held at the Merlin Rise, Sports City, Club Pavilion Cricket Ground, Kolkata, West Bengal after the match.  

State Teams participating- Deaf Bangalore Badshahs, Deaf Chennai Blasters, Deaf Kolkata Warriors, Deaf Hyderabad Eagles, Deaf Rajasthan Royals, Deaf Mumbai Stars, Deaf Punjab Lions, Deaf Delhi Bulls. 

Prizes sponsored by Emami Group & Merlin Group

Delhi/Kolkata 28^th April 2023: Deaf Chennai Blasters Team won the Indian Deaf Cricket Association (IDCA) 4^th Deaf Indian Premier League organised in Kolkata in Association with Bengal Cricket Association for the Deaf (BCAD). The final match was played between Deaf Bangalore Badshahs and Deaf Chennai Blasters on 27^th April 2023 in which Deaf Bangalore Badshahs Team was defeated by Deaf Chennai Blasters Team by 152 runs (DLS method – Match reduced to 13 overs, target 1 runs).  Following the match, the participants were felicitated at the Merlin Rise, Sports City, Club Pavilion Cricket Ground, Rajarhat, Kolkata, West Bengal.

1^st Semi Final – Deaf Bangalore Badshahs opt to field.

                           Deaf Delhi Bulls – 77/9 Overs 10.

                           Deaf Bangalore Badshahs – 78/9 Overs 9.2

Result: - Deaf Bangalore Badshahs won by 2 wickets.

2^nd Semi Final – Deaf Rajasthan Royals opt to field.

                            Deaf Chennai Blasters – 157/8 Overs 20

                            Deaf Rajasthan Royals – 140/7 Overs 20

 Result: - Deaf Chennai Blasters won by 17 runs

 Final – Deaf Bangalore Badshahs opt to bat.

 Deaf Bangalore Badshahs – 224/8 overs 19

            Deaf Chennai Blasters – 13 Overs

Result – DCB won by 152 runs (DLS method – Match reduced to 13 overs, target 1 runs)

Player of the Match	Vicky (Deaf Bangalore Badshahs)
Best Batsman of the Series	Sai Akash (Deaf Chennai Blasters)
Best Bowler of the Series	Sudarsan E (Deaf Chennai Blasters)
Player of the Series	Sai Akash (Deaf Chennai Blasters)
Fastest fifty	Sushil Yadav (Deaf Bangalore Badshahs)
Highest wicket taker	Sanju Sharma (Deaf Rajasthan Royals)
Best Wicket Keeper of the Series	Sainathan Reddy (Deaf Rajasthan Royals)
Super sixes	Munna Sarkar (Deaf Chennai Blasters)
Best Fieldsman of the series	Roshan Kumar (Deaf Kolkata Warriors)

Speaking about the IDCA T 20 Deaf IPL, Sumit Jain, President, IDCA asserted, “We are delighted to close this very successful tournament with the support of Ankit Agarwal, President, Bengal Deaf Cricket Association & his team.  It was a wonderful experience to be in Kolkata with 8 teams coming from all over India for the first time to Kolkata to participate in the IDCA 4^th T 20 Deaf Indian Premier League, 2023. Congratulations to the winning team Deaf Chennai Blasters & runner up team Deaf Bangalore Badshahs. IDCA is grateful to all our sponsors, all teams & officials sporting spirit who participated wholeheartedly in this special Deaf IPL.”

Former Indian Cricketer, Devang Gandhi expressed, “The enthusiasm you saw amongst the boys was really heartening to see & I would like to congratulate IDCA team which gave the platform to express themselves. I am sure in future some of these boys may go to represent their state & maybe India as well. They just need to be encouraged with more such tournaments on a regular basis.”

Delighted to be here today at the closing ceremony of this special Deaf IPL and to welcome & meet these amazing specially abled cricketers who have come to Kolkata from across India to participate in this tournament. We are proud to be associated as Patron for IDCA 4th T 20 Deaf Indian Premier League, 2023 organised by Indian Deaf Cricket Association, which is nurturing & providing a platform for deaf cricketing talent. This resonates with our social purpose of embracing & supporting the under-addressed individuals & community. My congratulations to both the winning Deaf Chennai Blasters & runner up Deaf Bangalore Badshahs teams" - Sushil K Goenka, Director, Emami.

“We have witnessed one of the superlative performances by the best cricketing talents with hearing impairment from across India at the IDCA 4th T20 Deaf IPL. I wholeheartedly wish all the cricketers the best in their future endeavours. We from Merlin are happy to felicitate best individual talents in categories like Super Sixes, Best Fieldsman of the series, Best wicket keeper of the series, fastest fifty and highest wicket takers. We hope to support such initiatives in future also. We hope the ODI among Nepal, Bangladesh and India will be good experience for us. These talents should be recognised at all levels”, said Satyen Sanghvi, Director, Merlin Group.

Roma Balwani, CEO, IDCA said, “Our endeavour & aim is to promote our social campaign for disability sport, ‘Cricket for a Cause’. We are delighted to welcome at the closing ceremony our Guest of Honours, Mr. Devang Gandhi, well known former Indian Cricketer, Mr. Sushil K. Goenka, Director, Emami Group, Mr. Sandeep Agarwal, CFO, Emami Agrotech, Mr. Satyen Sanghvi, Director, Merlin Group.

The event was sponsored & supported by its corporate partners Hero MotoCorp, KFC India, Emami, Group, Merlin Group, Merlin Rise; Club Pavilion, Nykaa, Impact Research & Measurement, Banka Jewels, SK House of Jewellery, Ganeshji Maharaj Jewellery, Silver Arts, Trisys, Jagdamba Jewellers & Kyra Jewelz.