Karnataka’s Shekar Naik will lead India in the inaugural T20 World Cup for the visually impaired to be held here from December 1 to 13.

Nine countries will take part in the tournament jointly organised by the Cricket Association for the Blind in India and the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled. 

Besides India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Australia, England, South Africa and the West Indies are in the fray. The teams will play each other in the league phase and the top four will qualify for the semifinals.   

“India and Pakistan are two of the strongest teams in the championship and we are hopeful of a good show since we had beaten them in Chennai in February.” Naik said.

Apart from Shekar, two other Karnataka players, Prakasha Jayaramaiah and Ravi S, have made it to the 17-member Indian team. The team consists of players of three categories: B1 (totally blind), B2 (partially blind) and B3 (partially sighted).  The Indian team will undergo training at the Sree Kanteerava stadium from November 9 to 29. 

Team: Shekar Naik (capt), I Ajaykumar Reddy (vice-capt), Ganeshbhai Bhasura, Hanuman Pooniya, K Ramesh, Maneesh A, Prakasha Jayaramaiah, Dunna Venkatesh, Hiteshbhai Patel, Dilip Munde, Pankaj Bhue, Vikas Patel, Ketanbhai Patel, Sanjeev Kumar Dalal, Ravi S, Md Jaffer Iqbal and Subhash Bhoya.