JK Para cricketer Amir Hussain on playing for India: “Wearing the Indian jersey, just like my idol Sachin Sir, meant a lot to me” | Cricket News

While his father Bashir Ahmad Lone ran a sawmill and also owned a small piece of land in the village, a young Amir played cricket in the village's neighborhood. On a fateful day in 1997, when the then eight-year-old was handing over a tiffin box to one of the mill workers, the boy lost both his hands in an accident.

J&K Para cricket captain Amir Hussain Lone bats on the left and bowls on the right. (Screenshot)

“My mother Raza Begum wanted me to take the tiffin and give it to one of the workers. While I was playing, my jacket got stuck in the sawmill and injured both hands. People around me thought I was dead before my sister and relatives took me home. Later, some Indian Army personnel helped me reach the nearby hospital where I underwent surgery,” recalls Amir.

While recovering six months after surgery, the boy spent time at home with his parents and grandmother.

In 2000, Amir began playing cricket again at his home, operating the bat with his neck and shoulder. Although the neighborhood did not support him, the youth often went to nearby cricket tournaments and urged the organizers to let him play, and sometimes he even got a chance to play. “My grandmother was the one who told me to play. She threw me the ball and I tried to use my neck and shoulder. Later I also learned to bowl by holding the ball with my big toe and second toe. I remember once watching Sachin Tendulkar batting on TV with one of my neighbors. They suddenly asked me to leave their home. Back then, I started training at home for four hours and walked or took the lift to tournaments in the village. Sometimes I had a chance to play and earn some money for my family,” recalls Amir.

In 2013, Amir enrolled for a cricket camp in the state while attending Government College, Bijbehara. He made it to the state para team in 2015 and later also played for the Indian para cricket team. “Playing for the state team and then the Indian para team was a life-changing moment for me. “Wearing the Indian jersey, just like my idol Sachin Sir, meant a lot to me,” says Amir.

Sachin Tendulkar with the captain of the Jammu and Kashmir Para cricket team, Amir Hussain Lone. (Screenshot)

While Covid-19 would mean he would be away from competing in tournaments and spending time with his wife Shokey Akhtar and son Imad for almost two years, apart from working part-time in a factory for a monthly wage of Rs 5,000, this happened in February this year , in which Amir met Tendulkar for the first time after his cricket video went viral on social media. “Sachin sir had seen my video and planned to visit my village before snowfall thwarted his plan. He called me on phone and said to me, “Amir bhai, aap humse milne aa sakte hain (Amir, can you meet me)?” That was the happiest day of my life. Later I also played with him in the ISPL. He always tells me that he takes inspiration from me,” says Amir.

Before signing off, the para-cricketer has a message for everyone: “Zindagi mein kabhi haar nahi manani chahiye, taqdeer unki badalti han jinke sapno mein jaan hoti hai (We should never accept defeat in life. Destiny can be changed, when dreams have power).”