Bhalaji has played 125 matches in his career © Getty Images (Representational Image)
A member of India’s memorable Blind World Cup campaign in 1998 and to date India’s leading wicket-taker in the format, Bhalaji Damor, now does odd farming jobs to earn his livelihood. The allrounder helped India reach the semi-finals of the inaugural tournament in New Delhi at the age of 21, but a turn of fate has forced him to earn about Rs. 3000 a month via farming and part-time coaching in a school in his village of Piprani in Gujarat’s Aravalli district, according to a report by The Times of India.
He lives with his wife, Anu, who also works in the farm to aid their living, and their four-year old son Satish in a one-room home. “After the world cup, I had hoped to get a job. But I couldn’t get in anywhere even through the quotas for sports or the handicapped,” Bhalaji said. Both his wife and his son have normal vision. READ: The heart-wrenching account of India’s visually-challenged cricketers – a team that won the T20 World Cup
Bhaskar Mehta, vice president of National Association for Blind, said, “Bhalaji used to herd goats as a teenager and had a rare gift for cricket, so we encouraged him to play local tournaments. Unfortunately, it didn’t get him anywhere after the world cup finals.”
Bhalaji, a totally blind player (there are three categories of blind cricketers — totally blind (B1), and partially sighted (B2 and B3) players), was known to have an accurate throw to hit the stumps in the field, bowl at the stumps accurately, and play his shots well, with his good hearing.
Bhushan Punani, president of Blind People’s Association of India, said, “It is a sad truth that sportsmen in the special category are not recognized or rewarded at all.” Bhalaji was born in Malpur, Sabarkantha, in the northeast of Gujarat, on June 1, 1977. He has scored 3,125 runs and taken 150 wickets in his 125-match career.