Disability of any kind is a hindrance for a person but it completely depends on that person whether he/she perceives the disability as a mere weakness or tries to transform it in a means of progress and improvement in the life. Shekhar Naik is a person who has made the disability of blindness not his weakness but a reason to move on and to do something unique in the life. He was a complete blind since his birth but his conviction and determination to play cricket in his life led him to become the Captain of the Indian Blind Cricket Team and also led India to win the World Cricket Champion title in the year 2012 (in which the Indian blind cricket team defeated the England team in the first ever T20 Blind World Tournament in Bangalore). Blindness was basically a hereditary disability transferred to him since his maternal grandfather, his mother and her four sisters were also blind. Shekhar Naik was born in 1986 in the district Shimoga, Karnataka in a not so financially sound and a less privileged family. For about 8 years (1986-1994) he suffered from blindness but an event suddenly gave a new turn to his life. He underwent an eye operation and successfully his right eye got back 60% of vision but his left eye still had no sight and nothing could be done for the same. During his school days he had keen interest in playing cricket than in studies in the school and that is when he started playing cricket and played his first ever cricket match as a keeper, at the State level. Though Shekhar’s mother wanted him to excel in studies and education but his passion for the game impressed her a lot and she eventually motivated him to play cricket with high spirit and zeal. Shekhar now took this as a challenge for him and made a strong promise to his mother as well as to himself that he would certainly play cricket to win it one day and also to do something unique so that his name reaches nationwide and also in the field of cricket. Since that day his life was completely devoted to cricket. Shekhar gives a big credit to his school’s physical trainer whose strict discipline helped him to improve his playing skills. The year 1998 turned out to be saddening for him because in this year his mother was expired. Earlier in 1994 his father died and now mother’s death left him with an immense shock. There was no care-taker, he began to work at the farm felids during the summer vacations, from which he used to earn around Rs 1000 (INR) – Rs. 1500 (INR) which was enough for his meals and clothing for the whole year. In the year 2000, in a tournament held in Mandya, Shekhar Naik scored 136 runs in 46 balls and after that he got selected in the Karnataka Team of South Zone to play as an Opening Batsman. In a match in Belgaum Karnataka and Kerala teams were battling wherein Shekhar scored 249 runs in a one-day match. Another stepping stone was the under- 18 Tournament held in Hyderabad in the year 2001 where Shekhar was felicitated with the ‘Man of the Series Award’. In the year 2006, Shekhar Naik was the only person from his Karnataka team who finally got selected to play in the Indian team, the same year proved out to be very successful as he bagged awards consecutively, ‘Best Batsman’, three; ‘Man of the Match’, and ‘Man of the Series’. In a match against England in the year 2007 he was awarded twice as the ‘Man of the Match’ and finally in the year 2010 his all hard-work paid off as he was selected as the Captain of the Indian Cricket Team for Blind. And now in the last year 2014 once again the Indian Cricket Team for Blind has bagged the cup of victory in Blind Cricket World Cup in South Africa under the captaincy of Shekhar Naik.
