Atharva Ankolekar was merely 10 when his father passed away, and beyond that life was understandably tough.
His mother took up his father’s job as a bus conductor, and kept her husband’s biggest dream alive. The dream of seeing his son play cricket.
Life came full circle for the family as Atharva returned with the figures of 5/28 to win India the Under-19 Asia Cup after the side was dismissed for 106.
Playing against Bangladesh, the side was bundled out cheaply. But thanks to Atharva’s heroics, India won the thriller by 5 runs, hence retaining the title.
As per a report from The Indian Express, Atharva’s mother took an off from her job at the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) in Mumbai to watch her son play the final.
However, she later realised that the TV at their home doesn’t have a cable connection that telecasts live matches.
This was when she rushed to her in-laws’ house and watched the match, there. As Atharva played the most important match of his life till date, his mother back home couldn’t hold back her tears, remembering her husband on this special ocassion.
I just hope that his father would have seen this. He made his father proud today, he made everyone proud today.
