Breaking Boundaries: Sign Language Cricket Commentary
If the indomitable Ian Smith’s riveting account of Suryakumar Yadav’s boundary line catch in the T20 World Cup final or Jatin Sapru’s impassioned cry of “long-off, long-off…” thrilled billions of Indians watching history being made on television, sign language commentary allowed a new segment of fans to experience the event with an equal degree of fervour.
For people who are hard of hearing or who are deaf, watching a cricket match on TV offers a new dimension thanks to the recent addition of sign language commentary.
It also includes supporters and players who would watch the Indian team on TV but would not get to experience the ups and downs of the game and commentary firsthand as an ordinary fan would, who would also get informed.
Disney+ Hotstar, the official streaming service, collaborated with Indian Sign Language to enable ball-by-ball updates via a translator present throughout the live feed.
In addition to the audio description feed, certain pages had voice-over technology that produced text and images as speech outputs so that visually challenged users could navigate with ease.
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“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 adding, insisting that the commentary made her feel “included”.
Another player, Nikhil Chanchlani, claimed that he and other players were able to improve their game by comprehending technical subtleties through commentary.
“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.
Mansi Shah, one of the interpreters, stated that the absence of such interpretation made owning a TV at home ineffective.
However, there is now a sense of equality and belonging for her father Mahesh, who is also a deaf cricket enthusiast.
“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.
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