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Outside the main gross of the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam bureau successful Lucknow’s Hazratganj, an anxious Tasavvur Ali flung speech his toolbox erstwhile the telephone beeped connected Sunday evening.
By the clip helium finished speechmaking the SMS — a smartphone is inactive an unaffordable luxury for him — the motorcycle mechanic was tearing up. His lad Amir, the substance connection read, had earned his fledgling career’s biggest paycheque — the 20-year-old defender was picked by a yet-to-be-named Visakhapatnam-based squad for Rs 34 lakh successful the Hockey India League subordinate auctions.
Within minutes, the quality dispersed successful the neighbourhood. And ‘imambara chacha’ had a beeline of visitors waiting to privation him. “I was implicit the moon. I knew Amir would marque america each arrogant 1 day… but this is the archetypal step, helium volition execute a batch more,” Tasavvur tells The Indian Express.
Less than a decennary ago, nary of this seemed possible. Hockey backmost past was a ‘dream’. The world was harsh — astatine an property wherever players larn the basics of the sport, Amir was helping his begetter astatine the garage.
The eldest of 5 siblings, Amir was seen arsenic idiosyncratic who’d yet articulation his father’s business. So, adjacent earlier helium could separate a walk from a deed connected the hockey field, Amir was doing the dense lifting astatine the garage. (Special Arrangement)
“To telephone it a store is simply a stretch,” Tassavur interjects. “I conscionable person a tiny tin briefcase and beryllium extracurricular the main gross of the Jal Nigam office.”
The eldest of 5 siblings, Amir was seen arsenic idiosyncratic who’d yet articulation his father’s business. So, adjacent earlier helium could separate a walk from a deed connected the hockey field, Amir was doing the dense lifting astatine the garage.
”You know, engines are dense to assistance and it’s not 1 man’s job. It started with that. And precise soon, I began servicing bikes. I was 12 years aged astatine the time,” Amir, the Junior India squad captain, tells this paper.
“My begetter told maine and my member Shahrukh, ‘yeh hunar hona chahiye’ (we indispensable person this skill). So, I helped him,” Amir says, adding that the brothers proceed to enactment determination adjacent contiguous erstwhile they are home.
At the time, Amir was already smitten by the athletics — hardly astonishing fixed the unsocial spot of pridefulness Lucknow, and Uttar Pradesh successful general, enjoys successful Indian hockey.
The portion has produced stars who play with ‘tehzeeb’ and ‘nazakat’, beryllium it the yesteryear wizards similar Dhyan Chand oregon his lad Ashok Kumar; KD Singh Babu oregon Mohammad Shahid; Zafar Iqbal oregon RP Singh; existent heroes similar Lalit Upadhyay oregon aboriginal stars similar Rajkumar Pal.
Amir is built successful the aforesaid mould — a left-back who tin beautifully chopped wrong to bushed the opposition’s press, a hard tackler, speedy connected the shot and, existent to the modern-day Indian player, 1 who won’t clasp the shot for much than a fewer seconds.
He was spotted astatine the property of 10 by a elder manager astatine the KD Singh Babu Stadium, Rashid Aziz Khan, who belongs to a procreation of endowment spotters that relies connected instincts alternatively than conscionable data.
“The crushed was precise adjacent to my house. Kids from my neighbourhood went determination to play truthful 1 evening, I joined them too,” Amir says. “Rashid sir saw thing successful me, and urged maine to proceed playing.”
He juggled 3 things for months — the mornings, Amir adds, were spent astatine school, afternoons helping his begetter astatine the store and evenings astatine the hockey ground. There were times Tasavvur had to get wealth to conscionable immoderate of his son’s sporting needs, and determination were times, too, erstwhile Amir had to skip grooming sessions to assistance his begetter astatine the garage.
”In 2014, I got selected astatine the Major Dhyan Chand Sports College successful Saifai,” helium adds. The large interruption eased the fiscal load connected his household arsenic acold arsenic the hockey needs were concerned. Step by step, Amir began his travel towards the nationalist team; helium is the skipper of the Junior India squad that volition vie successful the Sultan of Johor Cup starting Saturday and features prominently successful elder manager Craig Fulton’s post-Paris Olympics squad rebuilding plan.
It was besides during this play erstwhile the past 10-year-old Amir would rhythm astir 12 km to ticker his ‘hero’, erstwhile India skipper and doubly Olympic bronze medallist Manpreet Singh, play successful the Hockey India League.
”I ne'er missed a HIL lucifer backmost then. Manpreet bhai utilized to play for Ranchi backmost past and I went to spot him play,” Amir says. “It’s surreal that present I volition play successful the aforesaid squad with him.”
Not agelong earlier Amir was picked, the Visakhapatnam franchise had snapped up Manpreet for Rs 42 lakh. When his crook came, Amir’s bosom started pounding. He acceptable disconnected a bidding warfare of sorts and erstwhile the auctioneer banged the gavel, helium was sold for Rs 34 lakh.
Compared to HIL’s richer cousin, the Indian Premier League, the sum spent connected the hockey players mightiness not beryllium eye-watering. But for idiosyncratic similar Amir, it is life-changing.
“This is my biggest earning done hockey. I don’t cognize what I’ll bash with it — usually, I springiness it to my father, truthful I’ll bash that,” Amir says. “But arsenic overmuch arsenic the money, it’s besides astir pride. I person ne'er seen my parent and begetter truthful happy. Family ki izzat honi chahiye, that’s the important thing.”
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