Conferred with the Padma Shri this year, former Indian captain Shekhar Naik tells S. RAVI the honour will help the cause of cricket for the blind and motivate the visually impaired http://www.thehindu.com/society/In-the-spotlight/article17181289.ece
Green turf, salubrious weather and gentle breeze at Siri Fort Sports Complex make it a perfect day for cricket. The tension and excitement are palpable as one of the inaugural matches of the ongoing Second T20 World Cup Cricket for the Blind between Pakistan and New Zealand is about to begin. One person can be easily spotted in the crowd as he moves swiftly attending to the ground, players and officials. His infectious agility galvanises everyone into action. Meet the nation’s hero, Shekhar Naik, who has been awarded Padma Shri this year. He captained the blind cricket team putting India on the international map by lifting the T-20 World Cup in 2012 and the World Cup held at South Africa in 2014. He shares this honour of leading the country to victory in two championships in different formatswith Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The comparison lights up his face and he smiles. “Dhoni is an iconic player and captain. When people make this comparison I feel greatly honoured. I have followed his moves and strategies on the field very carefully and find his bowling changes and field placement excellent. As a player I follow all cricket games very carefully and learn tactics which I later try in my game. For example, noticing a batsman wanting to hit, we entice him to step out of the crease to get him stumped.” Shekhar’s ingenuity is evident wh bute like that.” Ketan Patel, the man of the series in the 2012 and 2014 cups whom Shekhar refers to as his “special hero” distinctly remembers how the captain pushed him . “Always there as a friend, philosopher and guide I respect him not just for seniority but his cricketing brains. The trust he has reposed on me, I hope I can keep it up.” Patrick Rajkumar, coach of Indian team, describes Naik as a great player idolised by his players and open to new ideas. “When I emphasised on practising throws for run-outs he immediately agreed.” Analysing his game, he says, “Shekhar’s appearance is very deceptive and seldom people think that he can bat and bowl till they see him action. He hits the ball hard, scores on both sides and his armour includes sweeps, fine leg glances and reverse sweep. While timing the ball very sweetly between the gaps he can frustrate the opposition. As a bowler he specialises in reverse swing, dragging the ball back and bouncers.” xpressing his gratitude to the Government, Shekhar observes, “I am absolutely thrilled and happy more so because I had never expected it. Getting the unexpected always brings more joy than what you are already anticipating. Isn’t that true,” he asks with a smile. “Besides the prestige that the honour holds, what is significant is that the award will make people curious about blind cricket leading to their active participation thereby giving encouragement to more than 50000 players in India,” he adds. For Shekhar, the charm of Padma Shri is double since he will share the stage with his hero Virat Kohli who too has been bestowed with this honour. Finding this coincidence pleasant, he hopes it will benefit the cause of blind cricket “Cricket binds us. With both of us receiving the award, it will bring to fore that everything is same, the game and the sportsmanship – so it will definitely help us.” Shekhar confesses that he admires Virat immensely and he has keenly followed how this sportsman appeared on the horizon to reach at the helm of affairs. “I admire his knack of promoting young cricketers irrespective of pressure, something which I also did.” As disciplined, obedient and team player Shekhar set the standards for others to follow. The present Indian captain of T-20 team, Ajay Kumar Reddy, referring to him as Naik bhaiya says, “I was inspired by Shekhar bhai’s batting and bowling. As a vice captain under him, I learnt how to set the field according to the batsman, bowler and the pitch condition. He encouraged me to learn to speak English and Hindi and very importantly how to handle fellow players.” Hailing from Shimoga, Karnataka, life has been a perpetual struggle for Shekhar since childhood. The blindness was hereditary as his mother and maternal grandfather both were visually impaired as 14 others in the family. Recalling that even two square meals was a tough proposition, Shekhar says, “Belonging to Lambanis, I had three things against me, blindness, poverty and illiteracy. It was my mother’s love and encouragement which kept me going since normal children would not allow me to play with them. On joining a blind school in 1996 when 10 I played cricket without even knowing the name of the game. I liked the hitting of the ball hard and fast. My mother would listen to my experiences with rapt attention and goad me to do better in the game and make name for myself. Do something that people who ignore you today recognise you tomorrow,” he recalls in a choked voice. He deeply regrets his mother absence in his life today. In school, Shekhar’s style of making the ball disappear was quickly spotted by his coach who supported him to make to district, State, zonal and finally the national level. And from then on there was no looking back. In the 2014 World Cup, he scored 147 against Sri Lanka. In the parlance of cricket for the blind, Shekhar is a B2 player (can see up to 3 metres). The restoration of his sight in his right eye is nothing short of miracle. Badly hurt after falling in a canal, he was rushed to a eye camp as no other medical help was available. “The doctors there patched my wound and on examining my eyes suggested partial restoration. I think the accident was a God sent opportunity.” For the uninitiated, in blind cricket a team requires to have four players from B1 (completely blind), three from B2 and four from B3 category (those who can see up to 6 metres). The wicket keeper has to be a B3. Shekhar has become a motivating force now and he understands it. Recently, he requested the BCCI to grant affiliation to the Cricket Association for Blind in India. “For me, cricket is everything, my heart and soul because it got me recognition, friends and love making me rise beyond my visual impairment. As a ‘normal’ person, I may have never reached this far.” He hopes it will motivate other specially abled and normal people who are despondent by life due to circumstances. “Never think yourself as ordinary. Do something worthwhile,” he suggests not just to his blind and disabled friends but everyone. outside the ground and calls the Australian Raymond Moxley as his best friend. “We stay in touch on what’s app and chat. Inside the field it is competitive but we are true sportsmen.” He cites the instance of a match between South Africa the host and India in 2014 World Cup. Two South African batsmen were badly injured when they collided running across the pitch. “We effected run out on both the ends but requested the umpire not to declare them out since in cricket played by visually impaired these types of accidents are expected. The South African team and public were overwhelmed and on winning the match they did not just shake our hands. Instead they hugged each one of us,” Shekhar revels in the proud memory What about playing against Pakistan? “There is tension which is more because of the spectators and not us. Yes, we give our best when playing against them because they are really good and any mistake can prove very costly.” Pakistan has won the World Cup ODI in 2002 and 2006. What fascinates Shekhar is a tour to the neighbouring country. “We are treated like VIPs with military escort provided throughout. The spectators are very friendly. In fact, they share with us from which part of India their forefathers came from.” With the match coming to an end, Shekhar has to rush off. When asked the reason for his absence from the team, he is upfront. “I had some health issues and did not want to impinge myself on the team just because I am the captain. Now that I am getting fit I hope to return when we tour overseas.” So for him the game is bigger than the player. “Of course. On becoming the captain of the team I stopped opening the innings because I wanted to blood in youngsters for that role instead of concentrating on self,” he says while giving me a warm hug. -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. 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