Talent and fortune, in equal measures, are integral to the success of athletes. But what if luck does not measure up to the skill sets at the disposal of sports personalities? We have heard innumerable tales about poverty-stricken sporting talents making it big on the world stage in the past. So, this write-up focuses on some recent sportsmen from humble backgrounds to set the sports arena on fire.
Jesin TK (Football)
The newest football sensation from Kerala’s Malappuram district recently created a furore by scoring five goals in a match after coming on as a substitute. In the process, The 21-year-old Jesin TK became the first player to net five times in a match in the history of the Santosh Trophy. Interestingly, he happened to be yet another success story to emerge from a humble background. His father happened to be an auto driver who could not witness his son creating history against Karnataka as he was busy with his daily runs to ferry passengers across the state of Kerala. Sometime back, when his father could not manage enough to buy football boots for Jesin, the elders in the family chipped in to make it possible. Now, his family members are happy that the struggles over the years have finally borne the fruit.
Umran Malik (Cricket)
Another player to make everyone’s jaw drop in recent times is a speedster from Jammu and Kashmir who is currently serving too-hot-to-handle deliveries to the batters. Umran Malik, playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad, has so far taken 15 wickets from 8 games, including a fifer against Gujarat Titans. The success comes across as more remarkable as he hails from a large family of modest means from a small Jammu village called Gujjar. His father is the sole bread-earner in the house as he sells fruits in a local market. But his family stood by him through thick and thin when they saw the potential in him as a bowler some years back and helped him in all possible ways to make his dream come true even if they were having a tough time on the domestic front. Going by the current form he is in, it would not be a surprise if Umran gets into the playing XI of the Indian team any time soon.
Mohammed Siraj (Cricket)
The youngster from Hyderabad has almost cemented his place in the Indian Test team with Ishant Sharma losing the privilege of automatic selection owing to poor form. Siraj has so far taken 36 wickets from 12 Test matches at an impressive economy rate of 3.09 and enjoys the confidence of team management greatly. However, despite coming from the high-tech city of Telangana, Siraj did not enjoy any perks associated with a big city, to begin with. His father, an auto-rickshaw driver, struggled hard to meet the various expenses of the household initially, but a lucrative IPL contract changed things dramatically for Siraj’s family. Tragically, he lost his father in the latter part of 2020 when he was in Australia and could only visit his grave after coming back from the country. From a tiny rented flat in Banjara Hills to bagging hefty IPL contracts, Siraj has indeed come a long way.
Hardik Pandya (Cricket)
The Baroda cricketer may have lost his place in the Indian team due to fitness issues but he can come back into the squad any time as there is a dearth of a quality all-rounder like him in the domestic cricket. However, things have not been very smooth for Pandya during his formative years as he belonged to a family with precious little resources. The misery of his family continued till he made his IPL entry in 2015 for Mumbai Indians. Initially, he could not afford cricketing gears, and he borrowed the same from veteran India bowler Irfan Pathan. But once he made his presence felt during various IPL seasons, the pangs of poverty also left his world.
