He had lent his only hand to lift cricket cup but is now a liftman

Ahmedabad: With one functional arm, Sunil Waghela recorded healthy figures of two wickets in two overs in a winning cause against England, but now he is forced to carry the sick as an Ahmedabad Civil Hospital lift operator.

Waghela, now 48, achieved this feat in the two-nation series for cricketers with disabilities organized by All India Cricket Association for the Disabled’ (AICAD) in 2002. Currently, he earns Rs 9,000 per month. AICAD is now identified as All India Cricket Association for The Physically Challenged (AICAPC).

An Amdavadi, Waghela was part of the Indian squad in the first-ever One-Day International (ODI) organized for the persons with disabilities in a three-match contest against England in 2002. Though he was born with an undeveloped left arm, his bowling performance in the first match was stellar. His two wickets from two overs helped India beat England by 135 runs. That victory gave India the momentum to seal the series 3-0. The matches were played in Faridabad in Haryana.

“When I was a child, my family resided in Meghaninagar. I used to play football with the kids of the locality,” Waghela said. “I was good at it but later someone suggested that I should play cricket. He had noted my running power. I started playing cricket at the age of 19 in 1992.”

These days, Waghela lives in Naroda with his wife Anita and their two sons, Hardik, 25, and Divyesh, 22.

While playing cricket, Waghela used to work as a peon at a private clinic in Navrangpura. “For the past 13 years, I have been working as a liftman at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. I continued to be on duty during the Covid peak,” he said. “My son Hardik is a male nurse at Civil Hospital. I cannot sustain my family on only my salary.” Divyesh is a BTech student.

“Waghela was picked as a bowler in the team but he was also a very fine fielder and a terrific batsman,” said Dipen Gandhi, the secretary of

Gujarat

Cricket Association for the Disabled. “Not just spectators, even cricketers were astonished to see him hit sixes with one hand.”

Gandhi played in the match in which Waghela took the two wickets. Gandhi had scored 53 runs in 47 balls and was the highest scorer of the match.

Gandhi said that in another match played in Dadar in Mumbai, Waghela had caught out a batsman. “After the match, a group of spectators had felicitated him just for that catch,” Gandhi said.

As for the first match against England, Waghela said that the toss was won by India and they decided to bat first. India scored 161 runs with 5 wickets to spare in 25 overs. Baljinder Singh had scored 45 runs.

While Waghela had taken two wickets giving away just three runs, Singh had taken six wickets in five overs at an economy rate of 2 and was the highest wicket-taker of the Indian team.

Waghela said that as a cricketer he expected some financial support from the government. “I hoped to get a government job. It never happened,” he said. “Now, I am 48 years old and have abandoned that hope.” He continues to play cricket though.

BOX

Inclusive Cricket

- Two different formats are employed for the persons with disabilities

- In the game for physically challenged, a player can bowl from wheelchair, and bat with one hand

- In the game for the blind and those with low vision, plastic ball is used with ball-bearings to make noise

- Those with speech-and-hearing impairment also organize their own tournaments