Three days ago Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar shared a video on Twitter of a little boy who is an expert at bowling leg spin. He is seen bowling a mix of leg spin and googlies to much older boys and even men who are left bewildered by the deceptive turn of the ball. Clearly the Indian ace was impressed. He has commented: “Wow! Received this video from a friend. It’s brilliant. The love and passion this little boy has for the game is evident.”
So, who is the special boy who has been able to impress the cricket world’s most famous personality? Here are some details about him.
His name is Asaduzzaman Sadid. He lives in the city of Barisal in Bangladesh with his parents. After he watched the famous Bangladesh all rounder Shakib Al Hasan in action on television, little Sadid got hooked to cricket. Whenever Shakib is dismissed, the little one begins to weep.
His uncle Sirajul Islam Shuvo told the media that the family noticed Sadid’s love for cricket when he was even younger. At the age of three years, Sadid showed interest whenever a cricket match was being shown on the television screen. But the boy’s passion increased when his favourite player Shakib Al Hasan got the Man of the Match award in one match.
The boy asked his uncle why Shakib got the Man of the Match award although someone else had scored more runs. His uncle explained that Shakib being an all rounder also took wickets. That did it. The boy, who till then was interested only in batting, took up bowling with great dedication.
Thereafter there was no looking back. The little boy began to practice his bowling from morning to evening despite the efforts of his parents to keep him at home so that he could get some rest. They did not want the little one to become too tired or fall ill.
But it so happened that little Sadid seemed to have a natural gift for flighting and turning the ball. Within a few weeks he was able to bowl so well that he began to fox the best batsmen in his locality who were much older than him.
Someone made a video which found its way, via social media, into the hands of Sachin Tendulkar who shared it on Twitter and the little schoolboy from Barisal suddenly found that he was an internationally famous personality. Lakhs of people watched the video in Bangladesh as well as in India and other countries.
After Sachin praised him, Sadid was thrust into the limelight. TV cameramen and reporters made a bee line to his neighbourhood to film him bowling on the streets against other boys. “My hero is Shakib Al Hasan,” he told them, speaking in his mother tongue of Bengali. “I am happy that Sachin Tendulkar has liked my bowling. My ambition is to win the World Cup for my country when I grow up,” said the little boy.
Abhijit Sen Gupta is a seasoned journalist who writes on Sports and various other subjects.