From fighting hunger to winning World Cup for Blind: TC Deepika hopes inspiring story can drive change in her Andhra village and beyond

The captain, who scored 246 runs in five games at the World Cup in Sri Lanka including a 91 from 58 balls against Australia in the semifinals, now hopes her team’s win will become a catalyst of change in her village – in more ways than one.

The Indian Express visited Deepika’s village of 45 families, almost all of them from the Yadav community primarily engaged in farming. It found that the roads were not the only problem there. “The families living there still follow regressive practices,” Deepika said, speaking to this newspaper separately over phone.

Deepika TC’s parents, Chakthamappa and Chithamma. (Express photo)

“Women are still asked to sleep outside their homes, either in farms or under a tree, during their menstrual cycle. Pregnant women, too, are not allowed to stay at home. It is also quite common to see girls getting married at a young age,” she said, adding that these restrictions are due “lack of education”. “Class 4 is where education ends in our village,” Deepika’s brother Girish said.

Deepika’s own journey, her father Chakthamappa (60) said, started with a costly mishap when she was “five months old” leading to loss of vision in one eye. “She accidentally poked her finger into her right eye. Since there were no facilities nearby, we took her to two hospitals, one was 30 km away and another around 68 km. They kept her in the hospital for two months. They said they couldn’t do much. It cost Rs 3,000, but it was like Rs 3 lakh to us at that time,” he said.

Chakthamappa and his wife Chithamma (45) were daily wage farm labourers, earning Rs 800 together on the days they got work. When they didn’t, sometimes “for a few days in a row, the family went to sleep on an empty stomach”. Chakthamappa also grew tamarind on two acres of land he owned, but incurred losses and went into debt.

“Many times when I was young, my brothers and I used to roam around the village searching for fruits fallen on the streets. If we found anything, we picked it up and ate it,” Deepika said.

Girish said the financial situation was so dire that their “grandfather died of starvation” and their father “got food only once a day when he was young”.

Away from home

After studying till Class 4 at a school near her home, Deepika moved to the School of the Blind at Kunigal in Karnataka till Class 7, and later went to the Ranga Rao Memorial School for the Disabled in Mysuru till Class 10, where she picked up cricket. The school offered free education and hostel accommodation for visually-challenged children.

Deepika’s classroom in Tambalahatti Village. (Express photo)

But the distance between her home and school meant that every time her father wanted to visit her, he had to borrow money and work on the moneylender’s farm. “He used to come and visit me once every six months. He used to borrow Rs 500-1,000. When I realised that, I told him there was no need to come. Whenever he visited, I used to check his pockets to see if he had money to go back home. When they gave me food in the hostel or any sweets or cake, I used to cry a lot, wondering if my brothers had eaten or not,” Deepika said.

After completing Class 10, Deepika returned to her hometown and continued her education at Gnana Jyothi Education Trust’s school, a college about 7 km from her village. It was in 2019 that she received a call from Shikha Shetty, who is now the manager of the national blind women’s team, asking if Deepika wanted to participate in selection trials.

🚨 News 🚨

The BCCI proudly congratulates the Indian Blind Women’s Cricket Team, who recently won the inaugural Women’s T20 World Cup for the Blind.

The entire team visited the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on December 19 and were welcomed by BCCI Hon. Treasurer Mr. Raghuram…

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 21, 2025

Deepika thought cricket could be a way out of poverty. A well-wisher from her school days, whom she refers to as “Mohan anna”, helped her with funds to get to the selection trials. Once she made the cut, Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled took care of her. “My life changed after that,” she said.

Samarthanam was also the organiser of the six-team World Cup, which was hosted by Cricket Association for the Blind in India and co-hosted by Sri Lanka Cricket Association for the Visually Handicapped. India beat Nepal by seven wickets in the final in Colombo to emerge winners.

Summing up the performance, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said, “It was a great effort from Deepika and her team and I would like to congratulate them for their brilliant run in the tournament, which has made the whole country proud.”