'I Idolise Kohli but want to emulate Pandya,' says Kashmir's first blind cricketer in Team India

Irfan Ahmad, a visually-impaired cricketer from South Kashmir's Pampore town, recently lived his dream when he was included in India’s 18-man squad for the home series against England.

The Indian team had a three-match Twenty20 (T20) series in Bengaluru scheduled against England.

When Irfan was included in the side, he became the first player from the state to represent India at the international stage in visually impaired cricket.

In an interview with a national media, Irfan recalling his journey, said, “Just hearing the excitement of the commentators when a player hit a six would give me goosebumps and this is what drove me to the sport. In 2015, I was selected to play for the Uttar Pradesh cricket team. In 2017 I played for North zone and finally was called for the Indian national team.

Ahmed, who lost his vision just a few weeks after his birth, has very supportive parents, who have stuck by him ever since Irfan was introduced to blind cricket.

Because of the lack of infrastructure for the game in the state, Irfan travelled to Dehradun to improve his skills. Although it was never staying away from his parents, Irfan chose to be strong as he wanted to achieve his goal.

“Whenever there was an internet gag or mobile service was banned over here (Kashmir), I really missed the support of my parents as I was not able to contact them,” he said.

Irfan also said that after getting the taste of international cricket, he wants to ensure he gets a permanent place in the Indian team.

Although there is not much of a difference between blind and sighted cricket, Irfan explaining how blind the rules of blind cricket, said, "The major difference is in the size of the pitch. We play on 11 yards as compared to 22 yards. There are also three categories of players in a team; B1, B2, and B3. In the first category (who have no vision), there are four players. In the second, there are four more players. These people have a vision of up to 4 meters. Then in the final category, there are three players who have a vision of up to 7 meters," he explains.

For Irfan, Indian Captain Virat Kohli is his cricket idol, but he claims that he is more like Hardik Pandya kind of a player.

"I am new to international cricket, so I have to establish myself. I feel I can take up the same role as Hardik Pandya does in the sighted cricket team," he said.