Vizag's Karuna Shines As India Lifts Women's T20 World Cup For Blind
Blind cricket uses an auditory ball made of plastic material that produces sound, allowing players to judge the direction and play their shots accordingly: Reports
VISAKHAPATNAM: Pangi Karuna Kumari, a 10th grade student of the Government Residential School for Visually Impaired Girls in Visakhapatnam, has played a pivotal role in India clinching the Women's T20 World Cup for the Blind in Colombo on Sunday.
In the final against Nepal on Sunday, the young cricketer smashed a crucial 42 runs. Karuna Kumari is completely blind and competes in the B1 category.
Her coach Ajay Reddy told this correspondent that Karuna is very capable batter, known for her sweep technique.
Blind cricket uses an auditory ball made of plastic material that produces sound, allowing players to judge the direction and play their shots accordingly.
Karuna Kumari’s achievement has triggered Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) and CAB-AP to jointly support development of cricket for blind women and men in the state.
According to Ajay Reddy, cricket for the blind features three categories based on visual impairment levels. B1 category comprises four players, who are 100 per cent blind, in the playing 11. B2 category includes players with vision up to two metres, with three of them in the team of 11. B3 category players can see up to six metres, with four members mandatory in the team’s composition.
Karuna Kumari had joined the Government Residential School for Visually Handicapped Girls in Visakhapatnam. She stopped going to school after finishing 7th grade because of her increasing vision problems.
In 2023, during an admission camp, the school staff heard about Karuna from people in her village and spoke to her and her family. They convinced Karuna, who had by then become completely blind, to come back to the school. After joining the school on August 2, 2023, she showed great skills in sports, especially in running and blind cricket. She started representing her school at the state and national-level competitions.
Karuna’s cricket journey began when she got selected for the national women's blind cricket team in Hyderabad in December 2023. She played her first national tournament at Hoogli in January 2024, followed by another national tournament at Cochin in January 2025. She continued to perform well and played in the Infinity Series in Cochin in February and March 2025.
In August 2025, she went to Bengaluru for the final selection camp for the first-ever T-20 Women's Cricket World Cup for the Blind. Today, she is part of history, having helped India lift the T20 World Cup.
