Odisha Minister Ashok Chandra Panda inaugurates IDCA 7th T20 National Cricket Championship for Deaf

by Priya Jadhav

New Delhi/Bhubaneshwar, 26 September 2023: Shri Ashok Chandra Panda, Hon’ble Minister for Science and Technology and SSEPD of Odisha inaugurated the IDCA 7th T20 National Cricket Championship for Deaf, 2023. 

It was a momentous day for the state of Odisha, 7th T20 National Cricket Championship for Deaf was inaugurated at scenic East Coast Railway Sports Association cricket ground at Bhubaneswar. Shri Ashok Chandra Panda, Hon’ble Minister for Science and Technology and SSEPD was the chief guest, and Guests of Honour were Shri Sushanta Kumar Rout, Hon’ble MLA Bhubaneswar North and Shri Md Jafar Iqbal, an all-rounder and member of the National Cricket Team for the visually Impaired. 

Present in the occasion was Shri Sumit Jain, President, IDCA, he welcomed the guests and expressed his gratitude to the state of Odisha for the support provided towards conduct of this championship. 

All guests were welcomed with bouquets, mementoes. Along with Shri Sumit Jain, Shri Ajay Kumar Gen Secretary of IDCA, Dev Dutt, IDCA’s BCCI certified coach, Cdr DK Mishra (Retd), Vice Chairman, ODCA and Shri Sagarkanta Senapati, General Secretary ODCA were also part of the lamp lighting ceremony. 

The chief guest after the inauguration elaborated upon the initiatives taken by Govt of Odisha towards upliftment of the differently abled community. He was very impressed with the scale of operation of the tournament. On similar lines Shri Sushanta Kumar Rout, Hon’ble MLA met all the captains and conveyed his best wishes to all the teams and asked the teams to put in their best and the make the games interesting. He also expressed his desire to visit the championship again within next 7 days. Shri Md Jafar Iqbal was extremely happy to hear about the tournament and conveyed his best wishes to all the teams and expressed that these kinds of invitations will help improve the collaboration between the differently abled. 

Due to unforeseen circumstances, matches at CSIR IMMT ground were called off and the T 20 matches were converted to T10 matches. However, this change of format didn’t dampen the spirits of the players and games were played with zeal and enthusiasm. Matches were played at three locations and luckily the rain Gods also played along. 

KFC India, Hero MotoCorp, Impact Research and Measurement, Nykaa, Airtel 5G plus, SAIL-Rourkela Steel Plany, Cognito and Kaizzen are IDCA’s support partners for the upcoming tournament.  

Local support from OCAC, IDCO, Ruchi Spices, SBI & Netsat. 

For more information follow IDCA on Twitter: @indian_deaf 

About IDCA: IDCA Formed in 2020 by Mr. Sumit Jain, Vice President & member of DCCI (Differently-Abled Cricket Committee, BCCI) registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860 with the sole aim to promote the game of Cricket amongst the deaf athletes of the country and to provide them the platform to showcase their talent and to represent their respective states at national level and country at international level. Indian Deaf Cricket Association (IDCA) is a governing body for deaf cricket in India and a member of DICC (Deaf International Cricket Council) which closely works with ICC to promote Cricket amongst Deaf Cricketers globally. (Equal opportunities, protection of rights & full participation). It is solely dedicated to serving the cause of persons with disabilities. DCS was founded in April 2012 and its area of operation is across the entire country.