Lockdown diaries: Shahbaz Nadeem takes to social work

The lockdown has given Shahbaz Nadeem time with his family but the spinner and his folks have banded together to help out others in need in the community.

Shahbaz Nadeem and his family have been helping those in need in Dhanbad with essentials during the COVID-19 lockdown.

These are challenging times. With the country witnessing a 21-day lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak, people are stuck at home with limited resources and supplies.

Keeping this in mind, India interntional, Shahbaz Nadeem, has come forward to help lower-middle class families in Jharia, Dhanbad by distributing rice, cereals, flour, vegetables and sugar. “We have been able to distribute supplies to 250 families till now. We will send out more help in the coming days,” Nadeem told  Sportstar  on Thursday.

Confined to his in-law’s house in Jhariya, the left-arm spinner -- who made his Test debut for India against South Africa in Ranchi last year -- believes that it is important to help those in need in such times.

READ:

“This is the least we can do. Most of these people live in the slums, so this assistance with eventually help them. I have asked them to let us know once the existing stock is over,” the seasoned Jharkhand spinner, said.

“I believe in helping people directly, so I chose this. All my family members are busy packing up the stuff. My brother-in-law has taken permission from the local authorities to reach out to slum areas and distribute the goods. That’s what we have been doing. If needed, people can come and collect the supplies from our home as well,” he said.

Nadeem and his family are using the lockdown to reach out to slums and supply essentials during the lockdown. If not for the COVID-19 crisis, he would have been representing Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL.

 

For the last few weeks, the cricketer is stuck at home, but he is sweating it out in the gym. “I am just doing basic fitness training now,” Nadeem said. The spinner was supposed to represent Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, but with no clarity on the tournament’s future, Nadeem doesn’t want to think too much about it. The lockdown has also given him the opportunity to spend time at home but he prioritises safety above all else.“It is important to stay safe and stay at home. These are crucial times and we need to be very careful about what we do. We need to take the health advisory very seriously and follow them,” he said.

Despite being one of the most successful spinners in the domestic circuit, Nadeem has always kept things simple and this time, too, he does not want to talk much about his initiative. “Our job is to stand by the people and I am just doing it. This is not a big deal,” he said.