Sometimes, just making an honest living can mean a lot, especially when one starts life in utter poverty and hopelessness. Medium pacer Terrance Hinds last year played two T20Is for the West Indies against visiting England. For a player who was born in poverty and violence all around him, coming that far was nothing short of extraordinary.
“Playing cricket took me out of a lot of bad situations, so that is very important to me. I was born and raised in Port of Spain, a place where you don’t find many cricketers originating from. Down there is more like a ghetto, so for me to come out from a place like that to play professional cricket and represent the West Indies is a big accomplishment,” he told the official website of Cricket West Indies (CWI).
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“Coming from poverty, I will say I didn’t grow up with everything that I wanted, but cricket has given me a new lease on life and everything that I have now, so I’m thankful because playing professional cricket for your country or a franchise around the world is something big, and I always dreamt of that at a young age.”
Sometimes misfortune follows one like a bad dream, no matter what one does. Hinds had brought himself back on track much before he represented the Caribbean nation. But then misfortune came through other ways. During the Covid-19, Hinds lost many of his family members, including his mother and sister, but thanks to his resilient training in matters of life, he managed to overcome his grief real quick. Last year, when he made his international debut for the West Indies, he had showed he had been victorious one more time in the face of so much grief.
Brave in the face of tragedies!
“I lost my mom and a couple of family members through Covid-19, so every chance I get, I use it to represent them. My mom and sister departed weeks apart, then my grandmother and my uncle followed after, which was really heartbreaking for me,” he said.
Earlier this month, in the ongoing first-class championship in the archipelago nation, Hinds scored a fantastic hundred at No.7 for Trinidad and Tobago against Leeward Islands. He featured in an unbroken 298-run partnership with Amir Jangoo (203). They eventually won the match by an innings and 271 runs. But despite such a fantastic performance, he played it down and stayed grounded.
“We just need to take it step by step. Cricket is a funny thing, and you don’t want to rush anything. Even though we are thankful for the strong start to the series, the team is aware that there is a bigger objective at stake for us,” he said.