Mumbai pacer Aquib rescues family and neighbours from fire

MUMBAI: Pacer Aquib Shaikh, who played one Ranji Trophy game for Mumbai in 2010, heroically rescued his family members and neighbours from a fire which had engulfed his building in Kalyan Bail Bazar on Wednesday evening.
"I was supposed to leave for my training at 5 pm but chose to catch up a bit on my sleep. However, when I woke up I could smell something burning.When my mother opened the door of my house, there was thick smoke outside. Initially, I was scared but I soon realized that if I panicked, I wouldn't be able to rescue my mom, wife and my grandmother, who is 80. They were not able to breathe properly due to the smoke and were afraid that they wouldn't be able to come out of the house. They thought they would die," Shaikh told TOI.
However, the 29-year-old was determined to somehow save his family. "Thanks to cricket, I have developed an attitude that I don't give up easily. I wanted to save my family anyhow. I somehow took them to an open, gallery-type space on my floor, where the other residents of our building had already rushed to. I jumped on the terrace below, and using a ladder which was broken, rescued people one by one with the help of a couple of my neighbours," he said.
Shaikh's father Mobin is the coach of Pranav Dhanawade, who made a record score of 1,009 runs in interschool cricket in January 2016. The 29-year-old resides on the sixth floor of the eight-storey building. Mobin had gone out to buy groceries for the family when the fire struck the Shikhs' building. "I still can't believe what my son has done," said Mobin.