This account of Suryakumar Yadav’s splendid catch by Ian Smith at the boundary in the T20 World Cup final, and Jatin Sapru with his short words of “long-off, long-off…!” Sign made multitude of Indian viewers happy who saw history unfolding before their eyes on TV.
It is still a new group of fanatics that also had all the excitement thanks to sign language being introduced into televised broadcasts.
For people living with deafness or hard hearing, inclusion of sign language commentary has changed what it means to watch cricket on television.
In this regard, there are players and fans who would sit in front of their TVs just to support India but not enjoy it like others do as they move with the flow of the match through its ups and downs while getting educated by those doing commentaries too.
To facilitate this, Disney+ Hotstar streaming service collaborated with Indian Sign Language and had a translator available on live stream for real-time updates.
Also, audio descriptive feed was improved using voice-over technology for selected pages; thus converting text and pictures into sound output so that visually impaired users could easily navigate through different parts of this platform.
“Watching Team India lift that trophy was an unforgettable moment; ISL feed made it even more special for us. We felt truly included in the celebration and enjoyed every match played by our team,” Needa Shaikh said. She captains Mumbai’s deaf cricket team according to Parami News.
“This is first time we were able to enjoy a thrilling victory while being in sync with nervousness during those last 3-4 overs. We followed along with the commentaries as well as what was happening around in stadium then cried tears of joy when we won,” she added asserting that she felt “included” due to those commentaries too.
The player Nikhil Chanchlani said listening to the commentary enabled him understand some technical aspects about cricket which he feels have been helpful for him and other players like him in improving their performance on the body. He believes that commentators’ insights have contributed to his growth as a cricketer.
“I have taken part in state level tournaments and deaf cricket championships but our matches usually have no commentary because the crowd is also mostly deaf,” he explained.
“After coming to know all these technical things about international cricket, it has helped me improve my understanding of professional cricket as a batsman,” Chanchlani, who is left-handed batter revealed.
Even for those who listened to the journey through commentaries, watching India secure the T20 World Cup title for the second time was unprecedented.
“In this final catch of Surya Kumar Yadav, I could feel the entire crowd’s noise and excitement of commentators only after interpretation which doubled my excitement,” said Yadnesh Maladkar, a fan.
One interpreter named Mansi Shah said she had a television at home but that did not help much because interpreters were missing for the deaf community.
However, Mahesh, Mansi’s father and an ardent supporter of deaf cricket now feels included and fair.
“It was really liberating for me to watch without any explanations. This step not only provided a deeper bonding with the game, but made me feel that I belonged and was equal,” he observed.
