Kashmiri boy to debut in international blind Cricket 

Irfan Ahmad Mir, 22,  lost his vision to some peculiar disease merely two weeks after his birth. But an opportunity to play visually impaired Cricket has seemingly transformed his life. Ever since he has been selected for India's blind Cricket team, the mood at Mir’s home in Kashmir is rather festive.

A resident of a quaint village of Dusoo in South Kashmir's saffron rich Pampore town, Mir was picked for 11-member squad for the upcoming bilateral and triangular Cricket series of blind cricketers from India, England and Sri Lanka. The T-20 matches will be held on October 2, 3 and 4 at SSE Sports ground, Tanisandra near Hajbhavan in Bengluru.

“Our joy and excitement knew no bounds when we got the news”, said Bilal Ahmad, brother of the promising cricketer. He added that Mir had a penchant for Cricket since childhood and never let his disability to hold him back  from following 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 government school at his village and in 2015 went to Dehradun to pursue a course at National Institute for the Visually Handicapped ( NVIH). "Here i did a  course in Personal Adjustment to Blindness Training (PABT) and accepted my blindness as a way of life" a jubilant Mir told over phone from Bengluru.

During the course, Mir said, he took part in trials for the selection of a national  blind Cricket team and was eventually selected for Uttar Pradesh blind Cricket team.

"For quite some time, i represented Uttar Pradesh in various tournaments held in different parts of the country," Mir disclosed, adding that in 2016, he along with a fellow cricketer Ajay Thakur from Jammu worked hard to constitute a Cricket team of Jammu and Kashmir state.

The duo finally built a team of their own state and represented the state in blind Cricket tournament for the North Zone next year in 2017.

In December last year, 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 in India (CABI), he was picked for the  T-20 three match bilateral series against England at Bengaluru.

"On September 26, I was at Dehradun when I received  a call from the selectors," said Mir, adding that thereafter the word reached Mir's native village within no time. "The news about his debut in international Cricket has triggered a wave of euphoria in our village. Mir, undoubtedly, has brought laurels to the village and entire state despite physical disability. He has done us proud," said Mubashir, a resident of Mir’s village, Dusoo.