India, Sept. 16 -- There was a time when Mairaj Ahmad Khan dreamed of making it big with a cricket bat. More than three decades later, the 50-year-old is still chasing sporting glory - only now with a shotgun firmly in his grip.

From Khurja in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district to shooting ranges around the world, Mairaj's journey has taken him places he could never have imagined when he first stepped into the world of sport. At the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, he will be the second-oldest member of the Indian contingent, behind equestrian Shruti Vora, and will compete at his fourth continental games.

Yet, shooting was never supposed to be his destiny. "I was playing cricket when it all started in 1994," Mairaj recalls.

A left-handed to...