Many years ago, in the city of Vadodara there lived a muezzin by the name of Mehmood Khan Pathan. His ancestors were of Pashtun origin and he belonged to the old Pathan community of Gujarat. Mehmood Khan was a pious man and never hankered for riches. He earned barely enough to run his family. But he was blessed with two sons and since he himself had a religious bent of mind, he hoped that one day his sons would become religious scholars.
But the two boys named Yusuf Khan Pathan and Irfan Khan Pathan took to cricket and became excellent at it. So much so, that they began earning wealth beyond their father’s wildest imagination. But perhaps it was all for the best. Because the boys who have both played for India and earned in crores, are today using their wealth to help people who are in dire need of succor due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Today the combined wealth of the two brothers is estimated at over Rs. 200 crores. On the strength of that massive financial backup, the duo has plunged into relief work to help the victims of the pandemic.
There is an impression that cricketers are super rich brats of the sports world who do not care for the ordinary folks and their problems in life. But that is not always the case. The truth is that cricketers do earn much more than players of other sports, but not all of them are callous about the suffering of the common man. During the ongoing pandemic, we have seen some cricketers coming forward to donate generously to help the tragedy stricken people of India.
One such example is the Pathan brothers. They run a cricket academy from where they have set up a kitchen to supply food to coronavirus patients who are recuperating at home and are under isolation in the south Delhi locality. As is well known, Delhi is one of the worst affected cities in India. What is more, the food will be completely free.
This is a laudable move indeed. In a Tweet Yusuf Pathan stated that
“While the nation is in the midst of a second wave of the COVID-19, it becomes our responsibility to come together and assist the people in need. Taking inspiration from the same, Cricket Academy of Pathans (CAP) is going to provide free meals to COVID-19 affected people in South Delhi.”
When this was announced on Twitter, it drew an instant and favourable response. One follower replied: “May Allah bless you with all the strength and wealth needed to fight this pandemic”. Another requested that the scheme may be extended to the other parts of Delhi too. Yet another follower, no doubt impressed by the initiative of the brothers, wanted to provide help himself. He Tweeted: Hello @iamyusufpathan, please let me know how I can donate to CAP. I am living in the UK and I really want to help out.”
The tweets by both the brothers provided a phone number which could be called and free food would be delivered at the doorstep of the affected person in quarantine.
Earlier it was the Pandya brothers, also from Gujarat, who had decided to help generously. Hardik and Krunal Pandya had announced that they will donate oxygen concentrators to hospitals which are treating COVID affected people. “My heartfelt gratitude to all frontline workers. Krunal, our mother and I have decided to donate 200 Oxygen concentrators,” said Hardik. The all rounder revealed that his family is finding ways and means to help those in distress.
Also among the list of donors are Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma and others. Cricket Australia has donated handsomely and so have some foreign cricketers.
Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan and Jaydev Unadkat also stepped in to aid affected people. Dhawan announced that he will donate Rs 20 lakhs and also the money from post match individual awards for relief work.
“Over the years I have received incredible love and support from all of you, for which I am eternally grateful. It is now my turn to give back to the people of this country,” stated Dhawan.
So it is perhaps a general misconception that all cricket players are rich and spoilt brats who do not care for the rest of the society. There may be a few who fall into that category. But there are also those who are willing to help and their efforts must not be ignored or forgotten. The endeavours of kind hearted players too should be seen and recognised in order to put things in the right perspective.
Abhijit Sen Gupta is a seasoned journalist who writes on Sports and various other subjects.