Indian blind cricket Team skipper Ajay Reddy will bag the prestigious Arjuna Award next month. Ajay might have to transfer himself from B2 to B1 classification where players are completely or almost blind.
From childhood, Ajay Reddy longed to be a soldier and contribute to the nation. His dreams were shattered into pieces as he came to know that the army could not permit a partially sighted person to be their part.
Destiny had a different plan for him. The aspiring man, Ajay, who was visually impaired from an early age, soon got another chance to serve his nation with bat and bowl. His consistent performance in blind cricket as a captain helped India clinch the World Cup three times in a row. For his contribution to Indian cricket, he is selected among 26 Indian athletes to receive the Arjuna Award. The list of prestigious Arjuna Awards includes another cricketing star, Mohammed Shami.
Ajay Kumar Reddy: An indomitable spirit
Ajay, born in Gurzala, Andhra Pradesh, met with a freak accident at the age of just four. He lost his left eye in that unfortunate incident. The journey was not easy for his parents who were farmers.
As per the details given by Ajay to PTI, one day when his parents were out in the field for work, he was unable to sleep quietly. Later, he woke up and wanted his mother. Suddenly, the latch of the door went inside his eye as he got up. As a result, he went through surgery but unfortunately lost all vision in his left eye.
He also added that the little vision he had in his right eye was being lost slowly with time. When he turned 12 years old, he failed to identify the letters on the board in his school. Keeping its consequences in mind, the doctors advised his parents to admit him to a blind school so that he could avoid complete vision loss.
In 2002, Ajay’s parents shifted to Narsarapet to get him admitted to the Lutheran High School for blind students. This seemed to be the turning point of his life as he got to know about blind cricket here. The schoolboy used to hear that Pakistan was the top team in blind cricket and they had won the World Cup title beating India.
At that time, border tensions were high between India and Pakistan. Militants attacked the Indian Parliament in 2001. Ajay felt frustrated as he came to know about these incidents. India losing in any field is wrong – this is what Ajay thought. Without having enough knowledge about cricket, he made up his mind that he had to bag the World Cup for the Indian blind cricket team at any cost.
But there was a huge space between dream and reality. Financial issues emerged as the hardest hurdle for him to overcome. To fulfill Ajay’s dream, his parents began selling tea and set up an idli-dosa stall. Ajay used to assist his parents by cleaning cups, bringing water, and serving the customers. Due to his poor vision, people used to abuse him ‘dikhta nahi kya, andha hai kya?’ After a day’s work, he would play cricket all night and sleep in the morning. Getting up at 1 pm, he used to play again. This was how he prepared himself to be a fit at the World stage.
Victory over vision
As an Indian cricketer, he made his debut in 2010 and became part of the T20 World Cup-winning team. But he was not satisfied with such joy as he wanted to savor the delight of the ODI World Cup. In 2014, his dream came true as Ajay led the Indian team to defeat Pakistan in the final where Ajay scored 74 not out with an injury.
From then the Indian skipper has led India to an ODI World Cup victory, two T20 World Cup wins and an Asia Cup clinch. For his unforgettable contribution to cricket, he will receive the most prestigious Arjuna Award next year. This will be the first time when any blind cricketer is going to take the highest sporting honour in India.
