J&K’s maiden Ranji Trophy triumph after beating the country’s best known sides gives a newfound direction to youngsters in the region, creating newer role models in a state that has had troubled times
The Jammu and Kashmir team celebrates as skipper Paras Dogra lifts the Ranji Trophy in Hubballi on Saturday. Pic/PTI
The Jammu and Kashmir team winning the National Championship for the Ranji Trophy is the best news that has come for Indian cricket in a long while. Here is a state which has had troubled times with youngsters led astray by false promises and now by winning the Ranji Trophy there are newer role models for a state, which was under siege for so long. Over the last dozen years or so, cricket started to give a newfound direction to the youngsters there and now it has culminated in winning the Ranji Trophy. These last years, they have beaten the best-known sides in the country and to beat Karnataka in their first final at their home ground must be most satisfying indeed.
The Indian Premier League has given Indian cricket players from far-flung corners of the country, thanks to the excellent TV coverage in different languages too. The result is that teams which were virtually walkovers in the past are now not only winning the Ranji Trophy but also giving players who are match-winners for the country. The last decade has seen Saurashtra, Vidarbha, Madhya Pradesh and now Jammu and Kashmir winning the Ranji titles. Kerala were runners-up last year and Uttarakhand have got into the knockouts this year. This is most exciting indeed for Indian cricket. This win must be especially pleasing for Mithun Manhas, as he was the administrator for Jammu and Kashmir cricket when this transformation began, and today he is the BCCI President. Well done, Jammu and Kashmir.
The ICC T20 World Cup is coming to the business end and at this point the two teams who have played Champion cricket have been England and South Africa. Both teams have a balanced look about them and are being led from the front by two young guns, who are destined to be reckoned as among the greats of the game by the time they hang up their bats. Aiden Markram has been around India for a while now and so is familiar with the conditions in the subcontinent.
Brook’s audacious shot-making
Harry Brook, on the other hand, has had limited experience of the subcontinent though he has been to Pakistan a couple of times and obviously relishes their bowling as can be seen with a triple century in Tests against them. Here, he added to that with a century with some of the most audacious shots imaginable. Perhaps he has seen what his coach, Brendon McCullum, did in the opening game of the IPL and wanted to emulate some of those magical shots.
Speaking of The Hundred, the chatter over the last week has been about whether the new Indian owners of the franchises will buy any Pakistani player for their squads. The ECB joined in with a veiled warning about not having discrimination while picking any player. They seemed to have completely forgotten that last year itself when there were no Indian owners, there was no male or female Pakistani player selected by the franchises. So, if this time around if none of the franchises owned by Indians who have bought them for more money than the franchises were actually worth and don’t buy any Pakistani player, how are the authorities going to prove discrimination and if they try to do so, wouldn’t they be accused of hypocrisy.
Deteriorated Indo-Pak relations
Over the years, the India-Pak relations have deteriorated with innocent and unarmed Indians being killed by so-called non-state actors from across the border. After the Mumbai attack in 2008 there has been no Pakistani player in the IPL, though Wasim Akram has been there as a bowling consultant for a few years. Now, after few more attacks on innocent civilians, the feelings have hardened and that is only one of the reasons for the Pakistanis not being used by Indians in cricket and other professions.
The other reason could be the realisation that the Pakistani sportspersons and artistes pay income tax on the fees received from Indian and other foreign entities and the government buys arms that kill the Indian soldiers and civilians. So, no Indian entity would like to get involved in contributing to their own people’s deaths. This is something that only Indians can understand and not others who pontificate about no discrimination, even while discriminating themselves. It’s easy to point fingers at someone, but once again remember that there are three fingers pointing back at you.
Professional Management Group
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