Blind World Cup champion unable to collect Rs 63,000 for England tour

SIX months after helping India win the inaugural T20 World Cup for the blind by beating archrivals Pakistan in the final at Cape Town Amol Karche stayed in his humble home at Pune yesterday thinking about his teammates on board a flight to LondonAlso read Indias Blind World Cupwinning heroes awarded Rs 5 lakh each by sports ministryKarche being felicitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the T20 World Cup triumph in December File picMost of Indiarsquos World Cupwinning squad left for their England and Bahrain tour yesterday but 20yearold Karche couldnrsquot manage to collect R63000 needed to be part of the India team on their next assignment after the World CupIn seven World Cup games medium pacer Karche claimed seven wickets including two in the final against Pakistan on December 7 2014Indiarsquos Englandbound blind team pose at the Worli end of the Sea Link in Mumbai yesterday PicPradeep DhivarldquoI trained very hard for this England tour but was unable to raise R63000 Irsquove missed a great opportunityrdquo rued Karche a first year Bachelor of Arts student at Ferguson College Karche told midday that he approached a local blind cricket association in Pune Although the association didnrsquot turn his request down they didnrsquot get back to himAlso read Indias blind WCwinning captain Shekar Nayak earns only Rs 13000 a monthLocal corporators too could not oblige him An emotional Karche said ldquoIrsquom very sad because despite me being the only Maharashtra player in the World Cup squad I could not manage even a rupee as donation After my good performance in the World Cup I was looking forward to touring England I was very confident of doing wellrdquo Karchersquos father is a poor farmer in Lohagaon on Dhanori Road PuneShatteredldquoFinance was not a problem for the World Cup as the Cricket Association for the Blind in India CABI managed everything I knew getting funds for the England tour would be a challenge but not getting even a rupee was not something I expected I was also clueless as to how I should approach government authorities for funds I am hurt that the state government did not even felicitate me for my World Cup performancerdquo said KarcheWill this hurdle end his cricketing dreams ldquoNo I will keep training hard for next yearrsquos T20 World Cup to be held in Indiardquo he saidTwo other World Cup 2014 players could not find a place in the 13member team to England due to financial reasons mdash Mohammad Farhan Kerala and Golu Kumar JharkhandCABIrsquos General Secretary Mahantesh Kivadasannavar explained the hurdles ldquoGetting financial aid is a big challenge for us This tour cost us around Rs 25 lakhs Gulf Air granted us 50 per cent discount on the tickets and Government of India has agreed to grant us some money Other help came from Samarthanam an NGO Karnataka while Andhra Pradesh Blind Cricket Association supported three players We also asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI for assistance for the England tour but we didnrsquot get a replyrdquo Mahantesh saidAlso read India beat Pakistan to win Cricket World Cup for the BlindMahantesh added ldquoCricket boards in other countries have made changes to their respective constitutions and recognised blind cricket associations We have been urging the BCCI to grant us affiliation Only recently BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur replied saying he is looking into this matter Letrsquos seerdquo