Spirit of Ranji win provides an opening to transform Jammu and Kashmir
An underdog rarely gets the chance to command the nation’s attention while scripting history in a domestic tournament. Last week, the Jammu & Kashmir men’s cricket team did just that by winning the Ranji Trophy for the first time in more than six decades of playing the tournament. When J&K won the final against eight-time champions Karnataka at Hubballi, after beating previous champions Delhi, Hyderabad, Madhya Pradesh and Bengal in the run-up, the head coach solemnly observed that several protagonists had played their parts in the team’s journey to immortality.
True, the magical moment took years of belief and toil to arrive at. Take all-rounder Parvez Rasool. He inspired hope when he became the first cricketer from the politically-troubled Kashmir valley to be selected for an IPL team in 2013. A year later, he rewrote history becoming the first from J&K to represent India. Rasool’s tryst with destiny inspired a generation of players like Umran Malik and Abdul Samad. Credit should also go to former India players Bishan Singh Bedi and Irfan Pathan, who worked with the team at different points of time to galvanise it into an ultra-competent outfit.
The defining moment, however, came in 2021 when the J&K High Court directed the Indian cricket board to form a sub-committee to run the sport in the territory. With BCCI president Mithun Manhas on the panel, things took a turn for the better. He emphasised grassroots development and hired ex-India all-rounder Ajay Sharma as coach.
The enormity of the occasion could be deciphered from the presence of dignitaries in the stands including Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on the last day of the final. It was heartening to see the entire erstwhile state, now a Union territory, burying its differences to support the team. The victory has a chance to usher in a new future for the region where India’s preeminent sport has been neglected for decades. In pacer Auqib Nabi, who finished as the leading wicket-taker and player of the tournament, they can find a role model whose cricket started on the streets of Baramulla. The win shows that with the right kind of support and belief, even so-called smaller teams can win on big stages. It also shows that cricket is thriving across the country as J&K became the fifth first-time Ranji champions in a decade.