Indian wheelchair cricketer Rahul Ramugade on Sunday urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to support the physically disabled cricket players and 'celebrate their abilities'.
"Our cricket pitch is of 20 yards and ground of 45 meters, rest everything is the same. So our main focus is to get disabled people outside and play outdoor sports," Rahul told ANI.
"Our cricketing body BCCI is not supporting our cricket yet. Through this tournament, we want to give a message that we are doing this much and they should support us," he added.
Rahul also quoted a slogan they often raise while taking the field - "Come, don't see our disabilities and let's join hands to celebrate our abilities".
He made these statements on the sidelines of a wheelchair cricket tournament organized for physically disabled people by St Aloysius College. The competition was held between Karnataka and Maharashtra teams.
"We would like to thank St Aloysius College (Sahodaya) for organising a wonderful event and we are very grateful to them," said Karnataka wheelchair cricketer Sagar Gowda.
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"Even we are competent when it comes to cricket and we should be given importance as cricket is considered a religion in India," he added.
"This is just to provide an awareness program how wheelchair cricket takes place and this would help a lot of students to understand the differently-abled," said Dheeraj Sequira, President of St Aloysius College.