In volatile districts of Kashmir, there is a new buzz word besides ‘growing militancy’ these days: Twenty20 cricket.
In its mega effort to reach out to the young population in Kashmir, the State Cricket Academy (SCA) has roped in 3,300 players in 10 districts of the Valley, including militancy-dominated south Kashmir.
Engaging the youth
Across the Valley, the SCA, which was set up at the cost of ₹1 crore in May this year under the ‘Khelo India’ programme, has started a major push to engage the youth in cricket in the past two months.
“It’s the most popular game here. In the past, there were events organised by the police and the Army but not on this scale. This event is just aimed at institutionalising the game and take it to a new level. We have deliberately kept politics away from it. It's a reach out also,” Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra Waheed Para, secretary of the Sports Council, told The Hindu .
In all 10 districts of the Valley, 22 teams with 15 players each are competing at the district level, and commentary of the matches are broadcast live on social media.
“From 22 teams in a particular district, we will identify players who will finally represent these districts. The skill of talented players will further be honed by SCA,” said Mr. Para.
The Academy takes pride in roping in “youth form the volatile districts of Kulgam, Shopian, Pulwama and Anantnag equally”, where around 200 local militants are still active and making it difficult for the mainstream parties to make any inroads into the youth, who constitutie 60% of the population.
“Sports may be a normalising factor. But this attempt is at institutionalising the game to open the way for talented cricketers to play at the much higher professional level,” said Mr. Parra.
‘A massive success’
Mubashir Hassan, director the SCA, said the Twenty20 tournament has “emerged as a massive success”. “We roped in BCCI-qualified umpires and former Ranji players as coaches. We see cricket talent shifting to a new plane in the next few years,” said Mr. Hassan.
For the players, the tournament is a platform to display their talent for the first time in a professional way. “I think sports should be conflict-neutral. For sportsmen, their game is like second religion. One plays a game irrespective of ideology. This is a meeting ground and a space to keep youth saner at times,” said a player in Pulwama.
