Fauzia Khanum hadn’t imagined that the first time she played professional cricket for her home State of Maharashtra, she would go on to win the National Women’s Cricket Tournament held in Mumbai. This is the third time Maharashtra has won the championship for hearing impaired women.
The 22-year-old batswoman was part of a 11-member team women that defeated Uttar Pradesh by 10 wickets. Ms. Khanum, who is hearing impaired by birth, lives with her parents and siblings, who aren’t people with disabilities (PwD). “I was always interested in sports but would have never imagined that I would get an opportunity to play cricket at this level. Although my mother supported me, my father was convinced I would never do anything in my life,” she said smilingly on a video call arranged via Anjali Rane, 23, an experienced interpreter for several organisations for the hearing impaired.
The youngest player in the team, Chandani Khan, 19, is Ms. Khanum’s friend. She, too, played professional cricket for the first time in this series. Ms. Khan, a bowler, had contacted the team’s coach, Sachin Sarfare, over social media and asked if she could play for the series. Mr. Sarfare, who is also hearing impaired, had been coaching the team for three months by then. “I had no experience of teaching cricket to women but they worked really hard and have done exceptionally well,“ Mr. Sarfare, who also trained the hearing impaired men’s cricket team that went on to win a Ranji Trophy, said.
