“The dreams of thousands of cricketers are associated with the DPL” – CEO of Divyang Cricket Control Board, Ghazal Khan
Follow Us
Ghazal Khan
The Divyang Premier League (DPL) whose 2021 edition came to an last month was a resounding success. The tournament brought together 90 physically challenged players from all over India and saw 6 teams battle it out for the title and Chennai Super Stars came out victorious at the Sharjah International Stadium as they defeated Kolkata Knight Fighters in a closely-contested final.
It is praiseworthy that each and every person associated with the tournament including the umpires and members of the organizing committee were all physically disabled. With the aim of bringing about equality as enshrined in the Constitution of India, the organizers – the Divyang Cricket Control Board of India have been doing a top-notch job with advocating for the same. In the forefront of it all has been the CEO of the board, Ghazal Khan.
‘If your intentions are pure the journey becomes easy’ – Ghazal Khan
Ghazal Khan spoke in an interview with SPOGO about the Divyang Cricket Control Board and said, “Divyang Cricket Control Board of India is a subsidiary board for physically challenged cricketers. It comprises of the wheelchair cricket team, disabled women’s cricket team as well as the deaf and dumb cricket team. It began in 2007 and was registered under the name of Disabled Sporting Society and was founded by my father. The DPL is our first step towards global awareness and recognition. It has given physically challenged cricketers a platform to gain respect and will only help us take further steps towards achieving our goals.”
Speaking on the impact of the DPL, she said, “We have an umpire, Yogesh sir who was involved in this tournament who gave the DPL his own full form ‘Duniya Pehchane Lagi’. This shows what this tournament means to us. The dreams of thousands of cricketers are associated with the DPL and this tournament’s format will feature five international players, franchises will be purchased, bidding will be conducted just like the Indian Premier League and our goal is to give the same platform as the IPL for our players.”
Ghazal Khan then spoke of the challenges in conducting a tournament like the DPL and said, “One of the biggest challenges we faced was when our main sponsor backed out at the very last moment. We were shocked because it was a huge amount of money and we probably made a mistake trusting them but we have learnt from it. We could not even pay for the tickets of all our cricketers and we tried to pay for as many as we could. Unfortunately, a lot of players were left behind at our practice camp in Agra.”
However, the problems were all overcome and Ghazal said, “As they say, “if your intentions are pure the journey becomes easy” and after explaining our situation we managed to carry on with the tournament. We haven’t paid back our dues until now but despite this we were supported because the tournament was for a good cause. One of the other major challenges we faced was that 19 players tested COVID-19 positive before we could come back to India. Since then, eight players have recovered and tested negative while twelve people including my father are still there.”
Ghazal Khan on the right to equality and her goals
Ghazal Khan also spoke of how the DPL is an initiative to implement the right to equality. She said, “Cricket for the physically challenged is just an initiative to implement the law ‘Right to equality’ in the Constitution of India. Physically challenged individuals don’t get job offers, they don’t have many income sources and face a lot of tragedies. Our purpose is not just to make physically challenged individuals play cricket but also help them financially so that they can survive. If by playing cricket they can make ends meet and take care of their basic needs then we should help them.”
Finally, on her goals, Ghazal said, “My goal is to make our players financially strong and give them equal opportunities as mentioned in the Constitution of India to give them the same respect and dignity that everyone deserves. We want to do everything we can for the physically challenged to the best of our ability, not just in cricket but in whatever capacity.”
“We are a family of 2000-2500 individuals and we help each other if any tragedy might befall on anyone of us. Last year during the lockdown, one of our players went through a difficult time when his mother suffered a heart attack and he could not afford the expenses. All the players collectively helped and solved the problem because we are a family. Just like any family, we also want to live a happy, content and peaceful life of dignity and self respect,” she signed off.
The DPL has already made an excellent statement with its noble intentions and excellent quality of cricket. But, this is just the beginning and it is only bound to grow from strength to strength with time.
Also Read: Chennai Super Stars clinch Divyang Premier League title
Stay Updated!
Nevin Clinton
(2399 Articles Published)