KATHMANDU, OCT 22 - Nepal, who claim to have formed the first visually impaired women’s cricket team in the world, is set to play the United Kingdom in the Best of  Three Twenty20 cricket series here at the Pulchowk Engineering college grounds on October 26-19.

An 18-member UK team arrived here on Monday and are currently practicing in Pokhara informed the organisers Cricket Association of Blind (CAB) Nepal on Tuesday. Nepal on their part have announced a 15-member squad for the series. Bhagwati Bhattarai will captain the Nepali team with Kirtan Duwal Shrestha to take the coaching responsibilities.  

CAB, Nepal President Pawan Ghimire said that the tournament would provide some respite to the Nepali blind cricket fraternity that has been crestfallen after not receiving financial aid from the government to participate in the men’s Blind Cricket World Cup in South Africa on November 26-December 9.

The CAB President also claimed that the tournament is first of its kind in the world. “We are the first country to have a visually impaired women’s team and the tournament we are hosting is also the first of its kind in the world,” added Ghimire. “The aim of this tournament is to help enhance the skill of these ladies and boost their morale.”

According to Ghimire, UK formed their women’s team following in the footsteps of Nepali team. “Beth Ivan, a British citizen from the non government organisation Change Foundation, knew about our team through google search in 2009 and began to form a team of their own,” said Ghimire.

Skipper Bhattarai, who was one of the two women cricketers to represent Nepal in the men’s visually impaired World Cup cricket held in India two years ago, said the tournament would provide them a exposure.  “We have already played national level tournament and this event will provide us with more exposure,” said the skipper.

The Nepali team has been preparing for the tournament for the last 10 days, informed the skipper. “We had a five-day camp in Pokhara and have been practicing at the Pulchowk ground for the last five days,” informed Bhattarai.

Squad: Bhagwati Ghimire (captain), Geeta Poudel (vice-captain), Asha Regmi, Rita Thapa, Maya Gautam, Muna Aryal, Nima BC, Bhagwati Amagain, Sunita Ghimire, Sarita Ghimire, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Om Maya Pun, Sita Dhakal, Mina Chhetri, Kirtan Duwal Shrestha (coach).
Source:  http://www.ekantipur.com/2014/10/22/sports/nepal-uk-set-for-visually-impaired-womens-cricket/396706.html