Gurgaon: Love for the game of cricket pushes wheelchair heroes

As many as 50 cricketers with disabilities took to the field to enjoy the game. Some known faces who were playing on the first day were Gulshan Kumar and Vinod Thakur.

Gurgaon Abhay Pratap Singh, 40, a former fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force (IAF) was busy navigating his wheelchair to ensure he covers the field and waste no runs. His face lights up as he narrates his story of how he sustained a spinal injury in a car accident in 2007 that left him wheelchair-bound. But he never lost hope and accepted his life and made the most of it.

Players of UP Strikers (red) and Delhi Sultans (yellow) take part in the Indian Wheelchair Cricket League, organised by the Para Sports Foundation in Gurgaon, on Friday. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

“It was tough to accept the situation and carry on with life for most people, however, in my case, the “never give up” attitude that I learnt in the air force motivated me,” Singh, who participated in the three-day wheelchair cricket league in Gurgaon, said. The event was kicked off on Friday at a private school in DLF-5.

As many as 50 cricketers with disabilities took to the field to enjoy the game. Some known faces who were playing on the first day were Gulshan Kumar and Vinod Thakur.

The league is organised by Para Sports Foundation, a non-profit organisation that is working towards the social welfare of persons with disabilities. Players from various economical and social backgrounds shared similar stories as they enjoyed the day.

Gulshan Kumar, 25, who had lost his right leg to polio, said he always wanted to play cricket as a child. Kumar, in 2011, broke a Guinness world record for the maximum rotations in a wheelchair in a minute. Kumar is part of dance group as well.

“Children used to play cricket near my house and it was my dream to play with the others. I was nine months old when I got polio. I met new friends at a school for specially abled,” Kumar said.

Apart from sports, these unsung heroes have a love for academics as well.

While Kumar is pursuing masters in political science from IGNOU, Dinesh from Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, is trying to take crack a banking examination.

Talking to them makes one realise disabilities do not leave one helpless, rather it unleashes the inner potentials of a person.

Vinod Thakur, who was a contestant in Season 2 of India’s Got Talent in 2010, said he feels alive out on the cricket field and that was the very reason he wanted to hold a wheelchair cricket tournament.

“The idea behind forming a cricket team was to ensure that the people with disabilities come out on the field and accept themselves,” said Sonu Gupta (31), who plays for India wheelchair cricket team.

Narrating his story, he said, “My father sold his farm for my treatment and we left our village and came to Delhi. I joined Amar Joyti School where I was motivated to never give up on myself.”

These players are also getting opportunities to play in international games. The exposure that such events bring can be experienced by anyone with disability if they only overcome their fears.