India's Blind Cricket Team's captain Ajay Kumar Reddy (Pic: Instagram/@indianblindcricketteam)
Growing up, Ajay Kumar Reddy only wanted to become a soldier and serve the country. He was heartbroken when he got to know that the visually impaired cannot enter the army
But Ajay, who became partially sighted at an early age, soon found another way to serve India: by playing cricket and winning the World Cups. For his contributions, he will receive the Arjuna Award next month, becoming the first to win the honour from blind cricket
Born in Gurazala, Andhra Pradesh, the Indian blind cricket team skipper lost his left eye in a freak accident when he was just four. To avoid complete vision loss, the doctors advised Ajay's parents to take him to a blind school. Ajay's parents thus moved to Narsarapet to enrol him into the Lutheran High School for the Blind in 2002, and he embarked on what would become a life-changing experience
In 2010, he made his India debut and was part of the T20 World Cup-winning team. But that did not give him much joy. In 2014, he played an unbeaten knock of 74 runs against Pakistan. India defeated their neighbouring country and won the 2014 ODI final
Since then he has captained India to a ODI World Cup win, two T20 World Cup victories and an Asia Cup title. The Arjuna Award is the recognition that the blind cricket community has been waiting for a long time
His vision is fading slowly. And Ajay might have to switch from B2 (players who can see up to 6m) to B1 classification, where athletes are totally or almost totally blind. But Ajay doesn't plan to go away from the sport
"I'm having vision loss, I am running around for treatment. If it work I will continue in B2 category, otherwise, I will have to move to B1. "But I will be involved in cricket till the time I die. It has given me everything." Ajay told PTI
ADVERTISEMENT
