Team India successfully defended their Blind Cricket World Cup title by defeating arch-rivals Pakistan by two wickets in an exciting final at Sharjah on Saturday. Pakistan, batting first, scored 308 for eight in their allotted 40 overs as Badar Munir top scored with 57 while Riasat Khan and captain Nisar Ali chipped in with handy 48 and 47 runs respectively. In reply, India chased down the total in the 39th over of the game. India started brilliantly as Sunil Ramesh scored a magnificent 93 giving his team a solid platform to overhaul the total. India skipper Ajar Reddy also played a decisive knock of 63 which helped his team lift the coveted title for the second time. Following their win, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, took to Twitter to express his heartfelt congratulations to the Indian team.
Apart from PM Modi, India Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too extended their congratulations to the victorious team.
The Reddy-led team, who remained unbeaten in the tournament, received 15000 AED as the prize money for winning the tournament.
Impressed with the win, veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh and former India cricketer VVS Laxman also took to Twitter to congratulate the Indian team for beating Pakistan yet again in the finals comprehensively.
With this win, India joined Pakistan as the only two teams to have won the title twice. India had lost the final match in 2014 after beating the same opponents at Cape Town.
Following the win, the Consulate General of India, Dubai announced that the Consulate General of India will organise a felicitation program for the players and officials of Indian blind cricket team on 21 January in Consulate auditorium.