Naushad Akhtar/Gaya (Bihar)

Shoaib Khan of the Gaya district of Bihar, has been selected in the development team of Dubai Capitals, the associate team of IPL franchise Delhi Capitals.

Shoaib comes from Kothi village of Imamganj, a Naxal-affected area of ​​Bihar. In his village, even basic facilities of education and sports were nearly missing, and, therefore, this is a dream come true for him.

Shoaib's father, Adeeb Khan alias Jugnu Khan, is a farmer and social worker. Despite being from a Naxalite-affected and backward area, he always gave priority to education in his family.

A law graduate, Adeeb Khan, left no stone unturned in providing a good education to his children. In those days, there were no good schools in the village, so he got Shoaib admitted to Gyan Bharti School in Gaya city.

Shoaib with his team

From here, Shoaib's passion for cricket deepened. Initially, his parents were apprehensive about his sports career, but they reconciled after seeing their son's determination.

Shoaib's elder brother, Altamash Khan, who works in District Disaster Management under the United Nations Development Programme, said that after playing at the school level, Shoaib also participated in district and state-level tournaments.

He joined Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, where he continued playing cricket while pursuing his graduation. Soon, he was selected for the university team and participated in charity matches and university development tournaments with many big players from the country.

Shoaib was disappointed after not being picked for the Bihar Ranji team. At one point, he had even decided to quit cricket.

It was when he stumbled upon the news that there was a vacancy in cricket in Dubai. Shoaib immediately started preparing to go there, and his father supported him. Soon, he was sending money to his parents. Gradually, Shoaib started playing in many clubs of Dubai and Sharjah and made his mark as a professional cricketer.

Shoaib's hard work paid off, and now he has a contract with the Dubai International team. Due to his consistently excellent performance in club cricket, he has also started getting money for playing matches.

The Dubai cricket pitch has given a new flight to Shoaib's dreams. He has also been honoured by the Emirates Cricket Board for his excellent fielding. Last year, he also received the Player of the Match and Best Fielder of the Tournament awards.

Shoaib performed brilliantly in his first match for Dubai Capitals in the ILT20 Development League. He played a blistering innings of 35 runs with the help of 3 sixes and 1 four in his first innings, giving his team a thrilling victory by 5 runs.

This performance not only gave the team its first win, but Shoaib also became the second-highest run scorer for his team. It is really unbelievable for a player from the Naxal-affected Kothi village to perform so well in the glittering T20 league of Dubai. When the news of his performance reached the village, there was an atmosphere of celebration there.

Shoaib Khan

Shoaib's brother, Altamash Khan, said that if Shoaib performs well in the ILT20 Development League, he may be considered for the Emirates Cricket Board's (ECB) auction for the International ILT20 2026 season.

He says when Shoaib was studying in a private school in Gaya, following his passion for cricket was not easy. During school holidays, Jugunu used to take him daily on a motorcycle to Gandhi Maidan in Gayaji, 100 km away, where he practiced.

All arrangements were made for Shoaib's practice during his studies till matriculation. Later, the family got a pitch prepared on their farm in the village, where Shoaib used to practice regularly.

Shoaib started playing cricket at the age of 6. According to his father, this hobby was deep in him since childhood. At the age of 12, Shoaib established 'Kothi Club' in his village, Kothi, so that the children of the village could also enjoy cricket. He also got the ground prepared himself.

Father Jugunu Khan says, "There is a different passion for cricket in India, but the number of players is so high that it is very difficult to make a place in the national team from a backward village."

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This story of Shoaib Khan is not only about the success of a player, but it is also the story of the struggle of a family, the sacrifice of a father, and the big dreams of a small village.