Floods in Kashmir have hurt the cricket bat industry in Meerut, which is the manufacturing hub of cricket bats, as the waters have damaged Kashmir willow trees used to make the bats.
Meerut’s manufacturers of cricket bats expect substantial increase in prices due to shortage of raw material. The willow trees, which grow best in forests around the Jhelum River, are submerged in water. So are the production units with stocks of several lakhs of raw willow bats (cut piece without handle).
Cricket bats are made from English willow and Kashmiri willow but the Kashmiri kind is popular as the former can be far too expensive. Manufacturing units in Meerut and Jalandhar depend on Kashmir for about 85 per cent of the raw material. The cricket bat industry is estimated to have a turnover of Rs. 700 crore. Charanjeet Singh Bhati, owner of Buchy Sports, says, “The crisis is bound to affect under-19 and budding cricketers because they generally can’t afford English willow bats that cost Rs. 6,000 upwards. Bats made of good Kashmir willow start at Rs. 2,500.”
Kashmiri willow is exposed to sunshine for about 3 – 4 months before the wood is shaped into cricket bats. The pieces are then sent to Meerut and Jalandhar, where the bats further polished and packaged.
Pradeep Bansal, owner of Bansal Sports, says, “This time around, the raw willow stock and the bats made in the factories in the valley, have either been swept away or damaged by the flood waters beyond repair.” “We can’t even cut new pieces from the willow tree because moisture must have gotten into the wood which will leave black spots,” he added.
