Khushboo Aftab, an 18 years old girl from Yaripora, a resident of Kulgam, fulfill the unreal dream of representing Jammu & Kashmir in cricket at the state level from an early age. However, as rightly said, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Like alternative fields of the country, the sport of cricket is followed and played religiously in Jammu and Kashmir. Khushboo started following her passion at the age of 3 when she wasn’t even able to hold the bat properly, and since then she has scaled noticeable heights in the game. “I wasn’t able to hold the bat properly in beginning. The support of my coach came handy my school was my 1st coaching ground,” as she tells in one of her interviews.
However, once it involves girls taking on cricket as a profession, gender discrimination invariably plays a vital role for the same. But this wasn’t the case with Khushboo. Though it wasn’t a cakewalk for her to play cricket at this skilled level, her determination and therefore the support from her elders and teachers made things easier. Coming from rural background, she had to struggle against the odds but as we know currently she is taken into account among the proficient woman cricketers of the UT. She contended Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association’s (JKCA) U19 for the debut in 2018-19 and now she is in pool of the women’s Under-19 cricket for the past 3 seasons.
In the recently terminated Talent Hunt Cup, she puts up initial score of 82 runs and conjointly bagged two wickets in the same match. Her performance played an important role for her team to a convincing win and boosted her confidence. In one of her interviews she said “When I didn’t perform well in the game, i believe it’s time to quit. However within the following match, I scored eighty two runs and smashed a six like that no women athlete has hit to this point. Such performances provide you with a required impetus to hold on.”
At present Khushboo is working hard on her game as she aims to play at the National level. Like her game, it’s her confidence that’s simultaneously growing. Her approach in facing the society is like the way she approaches the bouncers within the game. “you pull, hook or generally duck underneath a chucker-out however don’t let it hit you.This is how woman sports persons approach the unimaginative mind-set of stereotype for woman,” she said. In the near future we will see Khushboo playing in Indian National team.
Courtesy : Ashok Kumar