It was a crispy winter day, the battle in between MCC Pulwama and Tahab-11 in Chandgam cricket ground (Lanka) was going on. The young cricketers paid no heeds to the intense cold wave that had gripped the Valley for the past two weeks as all their focus was on the game. The ground was crowded with spectators, all sporting Pherans, a loose gown. Many of them carried Kaangris, a traditional fire pot used to fight winter chill.
Kashmiris are a cricket-crazy nation. The sport is being played and enjoyed since decades in the Valley. There is a long list of cricketers who made it to Ranji and other coveted tournaments. Cricketers like Parvez Rasool, Abdul Samad and Umar Nazir are the new additions.
“Today cricketers are full of tallent. The young boys are enough competent to play at national and international level and have a bright future in the sport”, said
Rafiq Ahmad Wani, captain of 3 decades old Marry Gold cricket team.
He, however, said that he felt the lack of discipline among the young cricketers.
“The young cricketers are aggressive in nature and this may create problems in their cricketing future. They must control their agression both on and off the play field.” Rafiq added.
Another cricketer Syed Suhail Qadiri, 38,said,
“It was 1998 and i was in my teens when I first started playing cricket with a leather ball and Marry Gold then a popular team allowed me to play in the team”, said Qadiri
Sharing his experience Qadiri said, that cricket had changed significantly since he began to play.
“Playing cricket back then was both cheaper and more risky than it is now, when we must pay a good sum of money as fee to participate in tournaments, but it is also safer as we have better protecting equipments”, he said.
A young player of Pulwama’s MCC team Abid Hussain Mir (29) , known for his all round performance said that the parents had now begun realising the importance of the sport.
“There was a time when my parents would loath to watch me playing cricket. However, after seeing few Kashmiri cricketers at big platforms like IPL, they encouraged me to play”, he said.
