Team Silent Heroes Lifts 5th Usha Divyang Cricket League 2019 Trophy: Harshal Yadav Awarded Man of the Match and Man of the Series

By 121 News

Chandigarh 28^th November:- Team Silent Heroes emerged victorious and lifted the 5^th Usha Divyang Cricket League 2019 trophy by beating team Beas XI in the finals. Supported by Usha International, one of India's leading consumer durables company, this sporting event was organized by the All India Cricket Association for the Deaf (AICAD) and Deaf Cricket Federation.

In the finals, played earlier today, Silent Heroes won the toss and chose to bat. Harshal Yadav from Silent Heroes played a fabulous innings of 119 runs (not out) and helped his team reach a total of 181 runs in 20 overs. Surinder from Beas XI took 3 wickets in 4 overs. Chasing the target, Ravinder from Beas XI scored 11 runs in 9 balls. Harshal from Silent Heroes also took 4 wickets in 4 overs leading his team to victory. Harshal Yadav was selected as the Man of the Match and the Man of the Series. K.K. Yadav, Secretary Sports, UT Administration, and Saurabh Baishakhia, President–Appliances, Usha International, graced the closing ceremony as chief guests and gave away the prizes.

The 5^th Usha Divyang Cricket League was a three-day tournament, played between 26^th and 28^th November 2019. In its 5^th edition, the League included participation from four wheelchair cricket teams, two visually impaired teams, along with eight hearing impaired cricket teams with players from across the country. This year officials from USA, UK, Korea and Germany also attended the event in order sign up for their players to participate in the next edition of the League.

Addressing the audience at the closing ceremony, Komal Mehra, Head – Sports Initiatives and Associations at Usha International, said that the spirit and energy he has seen here today is inspiring and infectious. All the players displayed true sportsmanship. Events like this that make us, at Usha, continue staying invested and support initiatives that provide a platform to ensure inclusion in sports. Sporting events such as this align perfectly with the Usha brand ethos of "play" promoting a healthy and active lifestyle.

Padam Passi, CEO, All India Cricket Association of Deaf said that we are delighted to see such great participation and highly competitive spirit amongst the teams. We are optimistic that this kind of league will evoke more interest and set a platform for the upcoming players. We are grateful to Usha for their continued support since inception and we look forward to growing in our journey in making this platform bigger and better in the future.

The names of the teams that participated in the 5^th Usha Divyang Cricket League 2019 are Silent heroes XI, Deaf Warriors, Satluj, Chenab, Beas, Ravi, Jhelum and Aicad XI. Many of the participating players have also represented India as a part of the Indian Deaf cricket team and various other international tournaments.