Mumbai: Company sacks disabled cricketer who brought honour to India

Kailash Ghanekarrsquos passion for cricket shows and not just in his words but also in his actions Such is the Nallasopara residentrsquos zeal for the game that he chose stay back in Delhi to represent India at a recent international tournament rather than return to Mumbai to workGhanekar 30 is 55 per cent physically disabled and suffers from a defect in his left leg which restricts his movement PicsNimesh DaveThe 30yearold had gone to the Capital to play for India in the Asia Cup a tournament for the physically challenged that included Pakistan Bangladesh Sri Lanka and Afghanistan Ghanekar is 55 per cent physically disabled and suffers from a defect in his left leg which restricts his movementGhanekar has scored nearly 600 runs in his cricketing careerThe batsman took leave from CD Equisearch Private Limited a stock broking firm where he worked to participate in the matches However the competition had to be extended by 34 days since the players from Afghanistan and Pakistan faced visa issues Ghanekar in turn asked his employer to extend his leave but they refused to accommodate his requestA triumphant Kailash Ghanekar with the Asia Cup trophyGhanekar was faced with a tough choice that affected his livelihood The troubled man called his father ldquoYou play for the country we will find you another job when you returnrdquo his father spurred him on And Ghanekar did soIndia went on to defeat Afghanistan in the finals played on February 13 Afghanistan put up a total of 134 runs in 20 overs and India chased it with four overs to spare with Ghanekar contributing 14 runsTrue gritThe Nallasopara resident began playing cricket at the age of five Always a fountain of positivity he credits his friends for supporting him right from childhood ldquoI used to play with the regular kids They would take me for tournaments and I played thereThey never let me feel I was different I played many tournaments with them before I started practising at Shivaji Park in 2006rdquo he recalled From playing in local competitions he moved on to playing in statelevel tournaments Soon he rose to the international level and went to Sri Lanka in December last year to represent IndiaIn February this year Asia Cup happened The batsman has amassed nearly 600 runs in his career but cricket has also cost him his job However he holds no grudge toward his employerlsquoDonrsquot blame themrsquoldquoI cannot complain about my earlier employer because they always have been kind to me They always gave me leave but this time I had to extend my leave all of a sudden and the office couldnrsquot accommodate it I cannot blame them as they had given me full liberty to play cricketI really wanted to play this time and hence stayed back in Delhi and played the finals Playing cricket has been always my dream and I couldnrsquot let any handicap stop me from achieving itrdquo said Ghanekar His father a salesman makes R300400 a day and is currently the sole breadwinner of the family of fourAjit Wadekar former Indian captain helps physically challenged cricketers across the country and knows of Ghanekar He told midday ldquoGhanekar is a good batsman But the government needs to take some firm decisions on rehabilitating sportspersons who are physically challengedThere are times when these physically challenged cricketers have actually played better than our regular cricketers I will be meeting the sports minister and even the prime minister to discuss the difficulties faced by physically challenged sportsmen I will ask him to do the needful I hope he Ghanekar finds somethingrdquoThe 30yearold is busy hunting for jobs and attending interviews Ghanekar has high hopes of making it through to one or two companies And hopefully back to playing cricket but for no loss