BENGALURU : For Varsha U, life has been a challenging journey as she was born with partial blindness. Over the years, her vision got weaker and by the time Varsha turned 16, she went completely blind. However, her childhood interest in sports and athletics grew stronger and today, she is a part of India’s first domestic national cricket league for blind women in Delhi to represent Karnataka. The tournament has been organised by Cricket Association for the Blind in India and supported by Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled.

 “I had an interest in sports like cricket, running, football, athletics, shot put, etc. from childhood and was waiting for an opportunity. In the meanwhile, I lost my vision. It was scary at first. I struggled with every step, every mundane task became an uphill struggle,” says 19-year-old Varsha. But the turning point in her life came about when one of her friends told her that Samarthanam Trust for Disabled is conducting a cricket coaching camp for girls. “I was selected for training and that helped me regain my self-confidence and added a sense of self-worth,” she says.

Varsha’s uncle and aunt supported her from the very beginning. She moved to Bengaluru with them to pursue her Bachelors in Surana College, South End Circle, after completing her schooling in Chitradurga. “My father is a farmer and my mother is a housewife. They were initially doubtful about me playing a sport that could cause injuries but later decided to support my dreams,” she says.

Not just from family, the young cricketer received immense encouragement from her college too. “My examination dates were on the same days as the match. With support from the college, I decided to skip my exams and go for the match. One of the biggest reasons was, they trusted my talent,” she says. Varsha’s new-found passion for cricket helped her in taking her first flight ever. “Most of us (team) boarded the plane for the first time. It was fun for all of us.” 

She started playing cricket seven months ago and represented Karnataka in a bilateral series against Kerala. Varsha assisted her team and won the Woman of the series award in the tournament. Her coach Shikha Shetty says she is a sensitive and smart player.

“It was a completely new game for Varsha. She was not able to understand it at first but slowly, started observing the ball’s sound and learned to hit a ball. Along with keenly following the coach’s instructions, Varsha started doing her own activities,” Shetty told CE. Regarding her preparations for the nationals, Varsha says, “I started to focus on building my confidence level and managing team coordination. I also had a special training for contesting in B1 category.”
Source: https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2019/dec/19/visually-impaired-teen-scores-big-2077986.html