Visually challenged student bags Young Achiever Award.

As far as fielding positions in cricket are concerned, J. Shahjahan prefers standing at ‘short.’ “You know, where Gautam Gambhir normally stands,” he said, a comparison he often draws to help those not so well-versed with cricket parlance. This is a place uncomfortably close to the batsman, one that even the fittest of players would not be too thrilled to serve. But this 26-year-old captain of the Kerala University Blind Cricket team is.

Mr. Shahjahan, whose indomitable spirit for the game has also found him a place in the State-level team for the visually challenged, is one of the five recipients in the country of this year’s Young Achiever Award instituted by the Amway Opportunity Foundation. The award was introduced in 2013 by the Corporate Social Responsibility wing of Amway India with the objective of identifying and supporting efforts of youth who are differently abled and belong to financially underprivileged backgrounds. He will receive the award at a function to be held in Chandigarh on November 8.

The National Association for the Blind in Kerala nominated his name for the award.

Born partially sighted, his condition worsened with age. But it has not been a deterrent to Mr. Shahjahan’s efforts to succeed. It is not just the joy of playing that gets this ‘all-rounder’ out on the cricket pitch at the university hostel here, but the fact that it has proven really uplifting for everyone in his team, nearly all of whom have had to deal with condescending, discriminatory treatment all their lives.

Even if they get to seriously practice only once a month, it is something they excel in. “If we could, we would get out on to the pitch everyday but any tournament we participate in or any practice we arrange has to be carried out using our own money. We have never had sponsors to support us,” said Mr. Shahjahan.

“It is not our physical capabilities that have frustrated us, it is the system,” he said. Mr. Shahjahan’s two role-models in the game are barely recognisable names — A. Manish and M.T. Manoj, who excelled in the national team for the Blind Cricket World Cup held in Islamabad in 2006.

Mr. Shahjahan is currently pursuing MA Malayalam at University College here.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Kaavya Pradeep Kumar / Thursday – November 05th, 2014