“There was no scope in cricket. We used to think playing sport was a waste of time, so I insisted that Auqib focused on his studies,” Ghulam says.
But Auqib’s persistence eventually changed his father’s mind.
“After seeing his passion for cricket, I accepted it. I realised that, as a parent and a teacher, I shouldn’t force him to do something he didn’t want to do. I started supporting him.”
Auqib’s childhood friend, Junaid Dar, remembers growing up in an environment where professional cricket barely seemed possible.
“Auqib was obsessed with cricket from childhood. I used to ask him, ‘Why are you doing all this? There’s no future in it.’ We came from a place where there was no concept of playing sport professionally and hardly any infrastructure.”
To pursue his dream, Auqib regularly travelled around 70km (43 miles) to Srinagar to practise on proper cricket pitches. He did not even own a pair of spike shoes when he attended his first cricket trials.
But his work ethic never changed, his cousin Bilal says.
“Auqib is very hardworking and consistent. He knows how to fight obstacles and make a way for himself.
“He would wake up early to go to the gym and then practise for the rest of the day. He did that almost every day for 10 years.”
