BENGALURU: The Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) in association with the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled on Tuesday announced that the 6th edition of the Men’s National T20 Cricket Tournament for the Blind 2023-24 also known as IndusInd Bank Nagesh Trophy will be held from November 25 to January 30, 2024.
The league matches of the 6th edition of the IndusInd Bank Nagesh Trophy will be played across 7 venues namely, Jammu, Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Kochi (Kerala), Chandigarh, Tripura, and Kota (Rajasthan). The Super 8 stage venue will be decided in the coming days. A total of 28 Teams (State /UT’s and an Indian Railways team which is represented by the Visually Impaired working in Railways) will play the T20 format Tournament with the round robin league basis. 28 teams are divided based on the last year’s ranking into 6 groups. The first 4 groups have 5 teams each and the last 2 teams have 4 teams each.
“New Season with New Talents. 6th edition of Nagesh Trophy will be another milestone for CABI Samarthanam to identify the new emerging players who will be picked to the Indian Team. Let me thank IndusInd Bank for their continuous support in promoting cricket for the Blind,” CABI chairman Dr Mahantesh G Kivadasannavar said in a statement. “This edition is the beginning for the Men’s Team to prepare themselves for the upcoming 4th T20 World Cup Cricket for the Blind, which will be held in Pakistan 2024,” he added.
The 5th edition had the joint winners (Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka) due to the rain. Odisha has won the Nationals once while Andhra Pradesh has emerged victorious in the finals of the tournament 3 times.
Group A: Group A brings together teams from Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.
Group B: Group B brings together teams from various parts of the country, including Karnataka, Delhi, Maharashtra, Pondicherry, and Uttarakhand.
Group C: In Group C, the stage is set for a competitive showdown as Odisha, Jharkhand, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar face off.
Group D: Group D is a collection of teams, featuring Gujarat, Chandigarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana.
Group E: Jammu & Kashmir, Railway, Punjab, and Goa will compete against each other in Group E.
Group F: Group F comprises teams from the northeastern and central regions of India. Manipur, Assam, Tripura, and Chhattisgarh will showcase their athletic prowess.
Nagesh Trophy was launched in the memory of CABI founder president SP Nagesh and founder trustee, Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled.
The launch of the tournament brought together the entire blind cricket community under one platform, by creating a milestone in the history of blind cricket.
