As a left-arm batsman and left-arm spinner, Joginder draws inspiration from the style and substance Adam Gilchrist and Yuvraj Singh bring to the sport. Life has changed so much for the 22-year-old that after 10 years of playing cricket — training and competing with other athletes — his skills have now earned him a place among regular players in a Delhi academy.

Likewise, Delhi girl Sangeeta cares little about the mundane things in life once there is a ball in her hand. What she cannot say in words, she shows with her performance on the pitch and draws much appreciation from her coaches Shivani Gupta and Rohini Passi.

Joginder was part of the Indian contingent that returned from the Special Olympics in Shanghai with 148 medals. Though the boys’ team managed only a third place after losing to Bangladesh, Joginder has special memories of China.

“There were so many people there to cheer for us, I’ve never seen a crowd that size. Even the taxis had the logo of the tournament!” he exclaims.

“Everywhere we went we saw logos of the Beijing Olympics and the Special Olympics together,” he fondly recalls of his first international competition. That, however, wasn’t his first international trip. Joginder was a special invitee to the White House, and was hosted by US President George W Bush, in celebration of Special Olympics’ founder Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver’s 85th birthday.

“Joginder is a dedicated athlete,” says Satinder Kumar, the coach of the boys’ cricket team. “The competitions, the sport itself and the camps give these athletes a morale boost. They only need encouragement, and a little funding,” he adds.

The women’s team coach, Shivani Gupta says: “To the outside world their efforts seem little. When they compete, it’s a reiteration of their victory everyday.”

It requires tremendous patience with athletes, but the returns are rich. “They only follow step-by-step instructions, so we keep our instructions very basic. The instructions also have to be repetitive because they tend to forget what they’ve been taught. But the love and respect one receives is unparalleled,” say Satinder and Shivani.