Bipin Dani
Had there not been his duty shift (because of COVID-19 the team of IPL scorers keep changing their duty), K.Prashanth Kumar, an India-born cricket scorer would have registered the first ever Double Super Over match in Dubai on Sunday.
Kumar, 39, was born in Jangaon (Telangana) and after passing the B. Tech (Mechanical Engineering) moved to Dubai for the job. Working with the renowned construction firm (Yogi Group) he continued his passion for cricket-scoring and has been the official scorer at all domestic and international matches in the UAE.
His services have been hired for the ongoing IPL matches at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
“Unfortunately, it was not my duty on the day, and it is the biggest disappointment of my life to have missed the opportunity to score the first Double Super Over match (Mumbai Indians vs. Kings XI Punjab), speaking exclusively over telephone from Dubai, ‘’ Kumar said.
It was the first instance of a Double Super Over match. The Double Super Over rule came only after the 2019 World Cup final between England and the New Zealand teams. Before that the number of boundaries were taken to decide the winner.
The scorer will be at his desk for the matches to be played on 22, 24, 25,27,29 and 31st October. It may also be noted here that the scorer Kumar has been recording the match scores and acknowledging the umpires signals with his one hand only.
“Basically, I am a Physically Handicapped where my right hand was small by birth. I used to do scoring with the left hand and also to play cricket at my home local tournaments with left hand batting and left-hand bowler”.
Kumar does not consider this hand deformity as a hurdle in his life. He has a UAE driving license (it is very tough to pass practical and theoretical examinations in UAE to get the D/L). And he has been driving his own normal car.
