Elder brother’s sacrifice behind Nadeem’s debut
RANCHI: When Shahbaz Nadeem made his international debut at the JSCA International Stadium on Saturday, his elder brother Assad Iqbal was at a private hospital in Delhi, where his wife Fariha was undergoing a minor surgery for a cyst removal. It’s worth remembering Assad on a day when the left-arm spinner from Jharkhand slipped into the India whites for the first time. It was him who had stepped aside so that his younger brother could play cricket.
It was 17 years ago when Javed Mahmood, a police officer then posted in Dhanbad, told his two sons that only one of them could pursue playing. He didn’t want both to risk their lives by chasing something which didn’t guarantee a secure future.
“Back then, the decision was right. I even threw his bat out of the house once in Bokaro. Assad was already captain of the Bihar under-15 side by then. But he convinced me to let Shahbaz play, as he has decided to opt out,” Mahmood, who is based in Muzaffarpur in Bihar after retiring as a deputy superintendent of police, said. Assad later completed engineering and is working with a reputed company in Delhi.
It’s ironical that neither could watch Nadeem being handed the Test cap by Virat Kohli on a cloudy morning in Ranchi. The father, at the moment, doesn’t have plans to see his son playing for the country from the stadium. He and his wife are supposed to leave for Chandigarh on October 23 to visit their daughter and undergo a routine medical check-up. “We booked tickets in advance. Assad is busy attending his wife. Let’s see what happens,” said Mahmood.
It was SA Rahman, former secretary of the Dhanbad Cricket Association and owner of a cricket club in the city, who spotted Nadeem. “I saw him bowling in the nets and was impressed. I urged his father to let him play cricket. He agreed,” said Rahman, who has been mentoring Nadeem for years.
400km road journey
It was on Friday afternoon that Nadeem received a call from the BCCI asking him to join the squad in Ranchi. “He called in the afternoon and informed us about his selection. He also requested me to pray to the almighty so that he can find a place in the XI. It seems my prayers were answered,” said the proud father, who was observing fast on Saturday to seek blessings for his sons.
“He left Kolkata at around 4pm and reached Ranchi past 11pm after a nearly 400km road journey. It must have been tiring but representing your country and realising your long-cherished dream matters more,” said Mahmood.As the saying goes, fortune favours the brave. With Kohli winning the toss and electing to bat, Nadeem got much-needed rest.