How would Thalaivar have looked in the 90s?

I met this smart, tall and handsome man recently at one of the events who looked like a young Rajnikanth!

He met with an accident when he was 4 years old which resulted in total vision loss in the left eye.

The vision in the right eye deteriorated gradually and he could only see upto 2 meters by the time he reached adolescence.

I am talking about the captain of the Indian blind cricket team – Ajay Kumar Reddy.

He wanted to be a soldier so that he could fight Pakistan on the border. This dream would never be fulfilled because of his eyesight.

He gradually took up cricket (for blind).

Pakistan were the undisputed blind cricket champions in the early 2000s and if not the battlefield, he wanted to defeat Pakistan on the cricket field.

He got selected for the national cricket team and India beat Pakistan in the 2014 world cup finals.

Dream fulfilled!

He became the captain in 2016 and under his leadership, India won the blind T-20 world cup and 50 overs tournament.

Everything was not hunky dory and he faced quite a few challenges.

Let me share one such incident.

While he was pursuing his Bachelors, the selection event for the Indian national team was announced, to be held in 2 months time. He had a cracked bat and worn out shoes.

His parents were going through a tough time with barely any money left to buy food.

He went over to Hyderabad looking for work.

He got work as a labourer in the Coca Cola factory for 45 days. He saved enough money to buy a new bat, shoes and the entire cricket gear.

Ajay was all charm and poise as he shared many more of his life incidents – a true braveheart..

Do you feel there are quite a few challenges in your life?
I didn’t have any left after meeting him..

Tanveer sahib’s beautiful lines sum up this indomitable spirit

तू खुद की खोज में निकल
तू किस लिए हताश है,
तेरे वजूद की तो
समय को भी तलाश है

Read more on LinkedIn