Valley beats 40-time champ by 4 wickets in Ranji league match
The Kashmir willow is famous across the world. Cricketers and tourists who visit Kashmir Valley always take a memento in the form of cricketing bats back home. Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar is also known to have started his cricketing journey with Kashmir willow, presented to him by his sister.
But it is only this time in a league match of Ranji Trophy that the State, bestowed with greener pastures, exhibited its cricketing talents outside the State. On Wednesday, the young eleven from Jammu & Kashmir scripted a new chapter in the glorious history of Ranji Trophy by handing over a crushing defeat to 40-time champion Mumbai in the sprawling greens of Wankhede stadium in the first match within Group A.
Chasing a modest target of 237 and commencing at their overnight 58 for one, J&K kept composure despite losing five more wickets to reach the target 73 minutes after lunch on the fourth and final day.
Team coach Sunil Joshi said for the first time in the last 20 years, he saw Mumbai batsmen “showing vulnerability against pace bowling.” Coach Joshi ascribed the victory to “team effort.” “We did well in the one-day tournament (held before Ranji Trophy). Our bowling is good. We need to work some more on our batting. Playing away from home will give the team more exposure,” he added.
Former Ranji Trophy player Ajay Gupta told The Pioneer, “There is no dearth of talents in Jammu & Kashmir. We lacked training facilities and exposure to quality pitches.” He said ever since our boys have started playing cricket under the captaincy of Parvez Rasool, they have been doing wonders. Ajay added, “Many bright careers were spoiled during peak militancy days due to lack of training facilities and infrastructural support.”
According to him, a promising cricketer from Jammu, Mithun Manhas, who showed some class in the domestic cricket, migrated to Delhi in 1997-98 and made it big in the IPl tournaments. For the first time in 1983, cricket enthusiasts had witnessed cricket carnival in Kashmir Valley. Indian team had then played against West Indies in the Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket stadium. During peak of militancy, no one returned to the cricketing field in a professional manner for a long time. The cricketing field was utilised for all other purposes but for the game.
The local talents got a makeover in the aftermath of 2010 unrest in the Kashmir Valley when Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association for the first time joined hands with the Indian Army and organised Kashmir Premiere league. The tournament created a separate space for the players who were committed and sponsored new cricket clubs to promote the sporting activity in the Valley and Jammu region.
The first break came when Parvez Rasool, an off spinner from Bijbehara in Anantnag district made it to the Indian team last year and inspired new generation of cricketers to bat for themselves and face bouncing tracks with renewed confidence. He was followed by another young talent, Shubham Khajuria. On Wednesday, Khajuria played a crucial role in the team victory. He partnered his teammate Ian Singh to come closer to the victory target. Parvez too chipped in with his bat not allowing the Mumbai pacers to breach the “wall of defence”.