India won their second straight Blind Cricket World Cup after beating arch-rivals Pakistan by two wickets in the final in Sharjah on Saturday.
Chasing 309 to win in 40 overs, they rode on Sunil Ramesh's 93 and Ajay Reddy's 62 to get the target in 38.2 overs.
India were in trouble towards the end of their chase following quick wickets but a wide ball that went on to cross the boundary eventually sealed the deal for them.
India and Pakistan are now the only teams to have won the tournament twice, while South Africa have claimed it once.
Earlier in the day, the coin fell in India's favour and they decided to have a field.
The Pakistanis batted well and put a solid 308/8 on the board, with Badar Munir (57), Riasat Khan (48) and captain Nisar Ali (47) doing the bulk of the scoring. For India, Deepak Malik and Rambir picked up two wickets, while Ramesh snared one.
The match turned out to be a close contest contrary to expectations.
The Indians had gone into the match as clear favourites but to the Pakistanis' credit they fought well and almost toppled the defending champions.
ICC CEO David Richardson, former Pakistan captain Zaheer Abbas and former Indian wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani were in attendance to witness the high-octane encounter.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the team on Twitter.
Congratulations to our cricket team for winning the 2018 Blind Cricket World Cup! They make the nation proud and inspire every Indian with their game as well as phenomenal attitude. True champions!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 20, 2018
Offspinner Harbhajan Singh and former batsman VVS Laxman also took the opportunity to pay tribute to the Indian team.
What a win by #TeamIndia. Congratulations on winning #BlindCricketWorldCup
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) January 20, 2018
Congratulations to each and every member of the Indian team for winning the #BlindCricketWorldCup
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) January 20, 2018
This was the second time in the tournament that India had beaten their arch-rivals. They had beaten Bangladesh in the semis to reach the grand finale. Pakistan, on the other hand, had beaten Sri Lanka to seal a place in the title showdown.
