Life Gets A Decent Lift

Sport can change the world. SRH's Zeeshan Ansari can vouch for it. Firoz Mirza on how the Ansaris used cricket to build better tomorrow

- AGENCIES @ Ahmedabad

SPORT can change life for the better. Sunrisers Hyderabad's Zeeshan Ansari can vouch for it. Born to a family in Lucknow with limited means, the leg-break googly bowler solely lifted the family comprising 19 members from poverty trap to give them a punching chance at life. It all started with Zeeshan playing on the streets with other kids at Chaudhary Tola, Aliganj more than a decade ago.

Zeeshan's father, Mohammed Naeem, along with his brothers — Mohammed Gayas and Mohammed Chand — had minimal exposure to education. Like their father Noor Mohammed, they became tailors. "We all started accompanying our father to our shop named 'New Noor Mohammed Ladies Tailor' shop at IT Chauraha from a very young age," father Naeem told this daily. All three brothers have been living together since the beginning and the family now has 12 children, three couples and their grandmother. The shop was frequented by athletes as they used to gather at the place in their leisure time.

"I used to see them and think they have a good life. They have a government job which has given them social security so I thought why can't my children become athletes. Zeeshan was playing on the streets then, so I requested Kanhaiya Lal, a national level footballer, a regular visitor to our shop, to find a coach for my son. He helped us in getting Zeeshan admitted to his first academy," added the father.