Test match being the purest format of the game and to play this format for any player is always a dream and Divyaang Myithri Sports Academy has made players live their dreams by bringing this format of the game into wheelchair cricket.
The historical 2-day test match took place in Bangalore Stone hill International Ground between Karnataka A vs Karnataka B, more than 30 players participated from districts of Karnataka and some from remote places like Koppal, Bagalkot, and Vijaypura traveling more than 10 hours through Trains to reach the venue.
Here’s what the captains had to say.
Shiva Prasad ( Karnataka A) - "We haven’t attempted test matches yet because it takes more time, needs physical endurance, strength, and the need to cope up with intense heat outdoors. Karnataka is one of the top three teams in India needs to show the rest how to do newer things", Test Match being our dream for a long time.
Sagar (Karnataka B) - "Shiva Prasad is one of the icons that I look forward to in cricket. So I'm glad that I could captain my team against him. It is an honor and privilege to be chosen. I believe test matches are all about aggression and stamina, but most importantly patience".
The time and situation at which the match was organized were difficult for the organizers and for the players who had traveled from different parts of Karnataka to play this historic game with limited transport and accessibility, but this didn’t stop them from playing the game they love.
As always Divyaang Myithri Sports Academy is known for its great hospitality and hosting tournaments professionally made sure the stay of players was accessible and comfortable with good authentic food.
As we get back to the game the two teams were very much excited and to match the game’s standards Divyaang Myithri had roped in Sriharsha Kuchimanchi, International Cricket Council ICC Umpire, and Sagar Raghav, First ever wheelchair Umpire to oversee the decisions made fare.
Winning the toss Karnataka B opted to bat but did not get the start they were looking for and wickets started stumbling, every team has a savior and for Karnataka B it was Thippeswamy who stood tall and scored most of the runs and took the team total to 172 and the challenge for them was to defend it against the strong batting line up of Karnataka A which had 3 Indian players and they got the momentum going as they got an early breakthrough in the 3rd over of the innings, but this could not stop Karnataka A from building a record-breaking partnership of 184 runs between Vijay and Harish, Through which Harish registered Karnataka's and his maiden test century and he was racing towards his double century that’s when the momentum shifted back to Karnataka B where they got out Harish at 198 runs and they managed to all-out them at 374, his heroic effort made his team lead by 202 runs.
The real challenge here for both the teams was that the day before the game due to heavy rainfall the outfield was very tough to field on beating all the odds; they completed 76 overs on the first day which itself was a big achievement for the game.
At the start of the second innings Karnataka B were trailing by 202 runs and needed a good start to keep the game alive and the openers gave a solid partnership to the team, but they could not stop the mighty force of Karnataka A as they took the wicket of the settled batsmen Thippeswamy and later they struggled to stitch a partnership even though Gajendra and Sudhakar played a vital role in keeping the game alive, but the middle order did not support them as wickets started falling the game too was slipping away at the end resulting in a loss by an innings and 22 runs.
Looking at the result very interesting question is, Can wheelchair cricket adapt to a test match??
Here we are proving to everyone that we have the stamina and aggression to match the standards of test cricket and making this first-ever test match a huge success, which helped every player to adapt their game according to the situation and bringing out the best of themselves.
Stand out players
● Hareesh Kumar, 198 Runs
● Thippeswamy, 98 Runs
● Gajendra, 78 Runs
● Vijay Kumar, 74 Runs
● Ramesh, 5 wicket haul
The detailed scorecard can be found here https://cricheroes.in/scorecard/1145906/DMSA-Tournament/Karnataka-Wheelchair-Cricket---B-vs-Karnataka-Wheelchair-A
Excited for another game of test cricket!!!, we won’t keep you waiting for long as we are coming up with yet another series against Andhra Pradesh scheduled from 10-13th of December 2020.
A squad of top 15 members from Karnataka is gearing up to play against Andra Pradesh at the same venue.
