Ever since his visually impaired son was selected for India’s blind cricket team, the mood at the house of Ab Sattar Mir is rather festive. Irfan Ahmad Mir, 22, was picked in 11-member squad for the bilateral T-20 series played between India and England in Bangluru.
“We are on cloud nine and that is all I can tell you,” said the brother of young cricketer.
Irfan had lost his vision to some peculiar disease merely two weeks after his birth at the quaint village of Dusoo in south Kashmir’s saffron-rich Pampore town. Irfan, having penchant for cricket from his childhood, has never ever let his disability to hold him back from following his cricketing passion.
“I clearly recollect that he was just five when he began playing cricket” said Mir’s middle- aged mother Saleema, gesturing towards a cricket bat lying in the corner of her courtyard.
Mir did his schooling from a mainstream Government school at his village along with other students. In 2015, he went to Dehradun to pursue a course at National Institute for the Visually Handicapped( NVIH).
” HereI did a course in Personal Adjustment to Blindness Training (PABT) and accepted my blindness as a way of life” said, a jubilant Mir from Bengluru.
During the course, Mir took part in trials for the selection of a national blind cricket team and he was picked for the Uttar Pradesh blind cricket team.
“For quite some time, I represented the UP in various tournament held in different parts of country” Mir said.
In 2016, Mir along with a fellow cricketer Ajay Thakur from Jammu worked hard to constitute a cricket team of Jammu and Kashmir state The duo finally formed a team of their own state and played blind cricket touranments for the North Zone in 2017.
“It was our first North Zone tournament and our team finished 4th” Mir said.
In November- December 2017, Mir also participated in the trials for blind World Cup held in Pune. Although Mir could not make it to the 17-member World Cup squad announced by Cricket Association for Blind (CABI), yet he was picked up for the T20 bilateral series played against England at Bangluru.
“On September 26, I was at Dehradun when I received a call from the selectors, informing me about my selecton for the series” said Ifan, adding that his joy knew no bounds.
As the word reached Irfan’s native village , a mood of jubilation prevailed the entire place.
“The news about his debut in International cricket has triggered a wave of euphoria in our village. He undoubtely has brought laurels to the state” said Mubashir, a local.