‘Inspiring’: Specially Abled Man’s Batting Prowess Impresses England’s Barmy Army

Cricket has acquired much prominence over the past few years. While the sport was previously popular across a handful of countries, several new nations have developed cricketing interest in recent times. With the ICC ODI World Cup knocking at the door, a video is going viral across social media where a specially-abled man can be spotted demonstrating his passion for cricket. Barmy Army, the official fanbase of the England cricket team, shared the video on X while labelling the anonymous man as “an inspiration.”

The clip opens to show a training camp where the man can be seen batting on one leg inside the net. Considering his shot-playing ability and footwork, the person seemed to have mastered the skills of playing cricket with one leg. He not only connected the ball with perfection but also stepped up to showcase his big-hitting prowess. “How amazing this guy is batting on one leg. An Inspiration,” Barmy Army tweeted.

People overcoming disabilities to play cricket, however, is not a new thing. A few days ago, blind cricket made its debut at the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) World Games in Birmingham, with women’s blind teams from England and Australia facing off in the opening match. India also took part in the competition and put up a dominant performance. The Women in Blue maintained an unbeaten streak throughout the league campaign to punch their ticket to the final.

The visually challenged Indian women’s cricket team squared off against Australia in the IBSA World Games final where rain caused occasional interferences. Australia won the toss and chose to bat in the 20-over clash. They made a poor start to their innings and went on to lose their first wicket in the fourth over. The early wicket unquestionably put extra pressure on the Australian batters, who chose to play composedly and scored only 29 runs in the powerplay.

India made a roaring comeback in the following two overs, picking up back-to-back wickets. Australia were reeling at 39/3 when an inning-reviving 54-run partnership from C Lewis and C Webeck brought them back to the contest. In the end, Australia folded up with 114 runs, losing eight wickets in 20 overs.

After rain played a spoilsport ahead of the second innings, India was given a revised target of 42 runs. They did not face much trouble during the chase and reached the target in just 3.3 overs to secure the World Games gold medal.

Keywords: Barmy Army, Man playing cricket with one leg, Man batting on one leg, X viral, Blind cricket, International Blind Sports Federation, IBSA World Games 2023, India’s blind women’s team wins World Games gold