Bhubaneswar, Oct. 20: Mohammad Jafar Iqbal, 20, has never seen a cricket match, but his obsession for the game is unparalleled. The visually impaired boy has been selected in the national cricket team for the blind that would tour Pakistan this November.

“I feel on top of the world. Everyone in my family is overjoyed,” said Jafar, a political science student of Utkal University.

Speaking about the preparatory camp in Delhi, he said: “I would leave on November 3 and come back on November 28. My semester exams start from December 3. I have requested my teachers to allow me to take the tests at a later date,” he said.

The team would play three T20 matches and an equal number of ODIs. Along with him, two others from the state — Sukhram Majhi from Koraput and Pankaj Bhuye from Bargarh — have also been selected for the national side.

Jafar, who hails from Sundargarh district, has been categorised as a “totally blind” player by Cricket Association for the Blind in India. He lost his father, an Orissa Forest Services officer, when he was just nine. He is the third among six siblings.

His elder brother, Asfar, inspired Jafar to take up the game. He made his debut at the state-level when he was just 13.

“Professional coaching came after I started playing for the state. I love to bowl but now I am working on my batting skills,” said Jafar.

But he has not yet thought about taking up cricket as a career.

“There is no support from the state government. The chief minister spoke a lot about integrating disabled persons in the mainstream during World Disability Day celebrations, but it has remained mere words. Generally, cricketers make so much money these days but for us, sponsorship is a distant dream. We have to spend money from our own pockets to take part in tournaments,” he said.