Nine countries will be participating in theinaugural Twenty20 Blind Cricket World Cup scheduled to be held from December2nd to 13th in Bangalore.
The names of the selected players was announced at the pressconference that was presided over by the AICC General Secretary Oscar Fernandeshere today.
"I feel honoured to be associated with a great causelike this. I wish each and every player all the very best, may the best mantake the World Cup home," said Fernandes, the patron-in-chief of the WorldCup.
"If one is differently-abled he should have equalopportunity to perform like the non-disabled," he said.
The Indian contingent of 17 players will be led by24-year-old hard hitting opening batsman Shekhar Naik from Karnataka. TheIndian team which had defeated Pakistan in March is among the favourites goinginto the World Cup.
"We have a great chance of winning the world cup.Pakistan, South Africa, England and Australia will be our toughestopponents," said Mahantesh Ghativalappa, founder of NGO 'Samathanam'.
Apart from the hostsIndia, Australia, Bangladesh, England, Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies, SriLanka and Nepal will be participating in the tournament.
CABI is organising the event in association with theBangalore-based NGO Samarthan.
"It is a matter of great pride that we are conductingthis event. The tournament will definitely make its mark as one of the mostprofound and innovative concept that our country is going to present on aninternational level," hesaid.
The Cricket Association for the Blind in India is hopefulthat BCCI will come forward and associate itself with the World Cup.
"We have met the BCCI officials a number of times, buthaven't received any concrete reply till now. We are very hopeful that BCCIwill give a positive reply. Their support will not only help us to meet thefinancial demands but also conduct the event in a better manner," said S PNagesh, President, Cricket Association for the Blind in India.
"We still need around Rs. 1.5 crore for organising theevent. I am confident that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)will consider the request and will extend their required support duly," hesaid.
A grand opening ceremony will be held in KSCA (KarnatakaState Cricket Association) stadium. Over 40,000 people are expected to attendthe ceremony to be held on 1st December.
The tournament will be played on league-cum-knockout basisin different grounds with a total of 39 matches.
The semifinals and the final will be broadcast live on theDD Sports channel.