Sign language cricket commentary helping deaf players and fans bridge the gap

If the indomitable Ian Smith's electrified description in English commentary of Suryakumar Yadav's boundary line catch in the T20 World Cup final or Jatin Sapru's passionate call for 'long-off, long-off...!' in Hindi delighted billions of Indians watching history being made on TV, there was also a new section of fans who lived the experience in a similar passion with sign language commentary. A recently-included aspect in TV broadcast, sign language commentary has added a much-needed flavour of watching a cricket match on TV for those who are deaf or are from the hard-of-hearing community.

And it includes players and fans alike who would set themselves up in front of TVs to follow the Indian team but would not get to live the experience like a regular fan, who would go through the upheavals of the game and commentary while also being educated.

In order to make this happen, official streaming partner Disney+ Hotstar and official broadcast partner Star Sports teamed up with India Signing Hands to provide ball-by-ball for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 updates through the presence of a translator on the live stream.

The audio descriptive feed was complemented by voice-over technology for specific pages, which rendered text and images into a speech output, enabling visually impaired users to easily navigate.

"Seeing Team India lift the trophy was an unforgettable moment, and the ISL feed made it even more special for us. We felt truly included in the celebration and enjoyed every match played by our team," said Needa Shaikh, the captain of Mumbai's deaf cricket team.

"This is the first time that we could enjoy the thrilling victory by being in sync with the tension during those last 3-4 overs. We kept up with the commentary and the atmosphere in the stadium and shed tears of joy when we won," she said, adding that the commentary made her feel 'included'.

Another player, Nikhil Chanchlani says understanding technical details through commentary will help players like him to improve their game.

"I have played in state level tournaments and deaf cricket championships, but our matches normally don't have any commentary as the crowd is also typically deaf," he said.

"I feel like after knowing the technical details of international cricket, it has improved my understanding of professional cricket as a batsman," said the left-handed batter Chanchlani.

Even if they lived the experience of watching India become T20 world champions for a second time through commentary, it still was something they had not felt before.

"During the final, the famous catch from Surya Kumar Yadav, I could see the entire crowd making noise and the commentators' excitement only due to the interpretation and that doubled my excitement," said Yadnesh Maladkar, a fan.

Among the interpreters is Mansi Shah, who said having a TV at home did not serve the purpose due to the lack of such interpretation.

But for her father, Mahesh, who is also deaf yet a cricket fan, there is now a sense of belonging and equality.

"It was liberating to watch independently, without relying on someone to explain the action. This step not only deepened my connection to the game but also gave me a sense of belonging and equality," he said.