In a nation where cricket is a religion, there is a team that plays the gentleman’s game and yet feels the nation has turned a blind eye towards it.

Born and brought up in a small village in Kolar Gold Field region of Karnataka, Patrick came to Bengaluru to pursue his graduation at St Joseph’s College, an alma mater he shares with Rahul Dravid. A sports lover, he used to play a lot during his college days. His favourite sports were table tennis and football, with cricket being a distant third.

However, after he graduated and started working as a political science professor, he gradually lost touch with sports. Other than being a professor, Patrick was also a life skills coach and trained counsellor who worked with youth groups. So, when he was offered the job of coaching the blind cricket team by Cricket Association of the Blind in India (CABI), he was just as appre-hensive as he was eager.

Patrick knew that CABI had approached him more for his man management skills than his cricketing ones. Ever since the Indian team’s dismal show at the 40-over ODI World Cup in 2006 (won by Pakistan), blind cricket in India had been in the doldrums. Changing this status quo would require a special effort and Patrick knew it.

Patrick’s first and most important challenge was getting the players to trust him and believe that he was fit for the job. Having never played blind cricket, most of the team members initially felt that Patrick would not be able to fit in their world or understand their problems.

Undeterred by their wariness and scepticism, Patrick began working slowly but consistently to transform them from players to champions. The T20 World Cup was two months away and his first step was to implement a regimental training system for the players.
The players’ day would begin with them hitting the training ground at 5.30 am everyday. This was followed by six to seven hours of focussed training in an undisturbed environment. He also designed a carefully-researched diet chart and exercise schedule for them. The players initially found Patrick’s schedule tough but they adapted to it soon.

Patrick’s next step was dividing the training sessions so as to focus on both physical and mental preparedness of the players. While players focussed on physical fitness and cricket skills in the mornings, the evenings were devoted to personality and confidence-building activities. During these sessions, the players learned how to stay calm under pressure, how to handle crowds, how to talk to media etc.

Patrick’s ability to speak eight languages helped him communicate easily and build a rapport with the players who came from different parts of the country. However, he knew that if his training strategy failed, it might permanently place him in the bad cop bracket.

For the next few years, Patrick honed the team’s ability to perform in any situation. He also in-grained in them the habit of always putting the team’s interests before individual honours. The team increased their participation in tournaments despite the difficulties caused by lack of funds.

Patrick’s efforts and the hard work of the players paid off when the team’s World T20 victory was followed by them winning an ODI series against Pakistan and Australia in 2013, the ODI World Cup in South Africa in 2014 and the Asia Cup trophy in 2016. However, the crowning glo-ry of the team’s outstanding performances was when they won their second World T20 title at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium, after defeating India’s perennial arch rival, Pakistan, by nine wickets.

At the same time, Patrick is quick to add that while winning tournaments is important, what mat-ters more is the much-needed attention it brings to the sport.