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Defending champions India stormed into the semi-final of the Blind Cricket World Cup after defeating Nepal by eight wickets on Sunday. The Men in Blue have been unbeaten in the tournament so far, beating Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh in their first three matches.
India won the Blind Cricket World Cup in 2014 after beating Pakistan in Cape Town, South Africa. They are certainly on their way to triumph in the tournament once again.
Here’s a look at the five Indian players that have shone in this competition so far.
Deepak Malik started India’s World Cup campaign with a sublime innings. The Haryana batsman smashed 179 runs off 103 balls and helped India scale down a mammoth total of 357 runs against Sri Lanka in just 32 overs.
Malik starred with the bat in the next match against Pakistan as well, helping India chase down a target of 283 runs in 35 overs. Malik scored 79 runs off 71 balls. He received great support from Venkateshwara Rao, who notched 64 runs off 55 balls.
Prakash Jayaramiah shone with the bat in India’s first match against Sri Lanka as well. While Deepak Malik stole the thunder with his magnificent innings, Jayaramiah quietly notched a score of 76 runs.
Jayaramiah played his part with the ball in the match against Nepal. He picked up two wickets for just 22 runs, helping India to bundle the opposition for 156 runs.
The Indian captain Ajay Reddy starred with bat and ball in the match against Bangladesh.
Reddy first picked up four wickets in his quota of eight overs, and then smashed 101 runs off 60 balls to help India chase down Bangaldesh’s score of 226 runs. Reddy struck 14 boundaries in his whirlwind innings.
Sunil Ramesh was the other great performer for India in the 10-wicket victory against Bangladesh. The opener thrashed 105 runs off just 57 balls. The opening batsman struck a whopping 17 boundaries during his innings.
The batsmen finished the match in just 18.4 overs, which is more than 20 overs to spare!
Ajay Gariya joined the party in India’s final group match against Nepal. While chasing a target of 156 runs, Gariya slammed 54 runs off 29 balls. He struck six boundaries in his innings.
Mehender and Rambir ensured that Gariya’s innings isn’t wasted by scoring 40 and 38 respectively.
India are set to take on Bangladesh in the semi-final on Wednesday.
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