New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI) The Indian Deaf Cricket Association (IDCA) on Monday said it is working hard for the sport's inclusion in the Para Asian Games to provide a level-playing field to the differently-abled athletes.

IDCA is a founder member of Differently Abled Cricket Council of India (DCCI), which is being supported by BCCI.

Also Read | Indian Cricket Team Gears Up for Deaf International Cricket Council T20 World Cup 2024 in Sharjah.

"We are working, we are already in touch with the Asian countries. We have already visited Hong Kong, which is one of the Asian countries who are ready to host the first Asian match with IDCA. But, right now, we are focussing on the World Cup," IDCA president Sumit Jain said here.

"We have got all the government certifications and some of them are under process which we will be getting very soon.

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"Everything is in process right now and we are working very hard to get that into action very soon."

Even though they are being recognised and supported by BCCI, the IDCA doesn't get any monetary assistance from the nation's cricket board, which it hopes it will get in future.

"As of now, the BCCI has recognised us under DCCI and has been providing us kits and all other cricketing equipments. But there is no monetary support. We are hoping to get financial assistance from BCCI through DCCI in future," said IDCA CEO Roma Balwani.

"We have learnt that in 2025 cricket will be included in Paralympics, so we are hoping that this committee of BCCI will come in the forefront and get all the disability cricket teams to participate."

Balwani also hopes one day a deaf cricketer will represent the Indian mainstream team as besides hearing impairment they have no other problems.

"We are only hoping, we would love at least one of our players if he or she can join the mainstream team. It has been Sumit's vision for over a decade," she said.

A 15-member Indian deaf cricket team, under Virendra Singh's captaincy, is set to participate in the Deaf International Cricket Council (DICC) T20 Champions Trophy 2024 to be held in Sharjah from March 6 to March 12.

Six countries -- Australia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and India -- will fight for the top honours.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)