NEW DELHI: Cricket bat manufacturers in Kashmir are celebrating a recent entry into international cricket after Oman players used their equipment during the ongoing T20 World Cup.
Indian-administered Kashmir has over 400 producers of cricket bats. It is the only place after Great Britain that makes cricket equipment from willow trees, which were introduced to the region in the 19th century, during British colonial rule.
While willow wood is considered the best to provide the strength and compression needed for a cricket bat, it was only recently that Kashmiri-made bats attracted international attention when players from Oman used them during the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup tournament co-hosted by the Gulf state and the United Arab Emirates.
Kashmir produces an estimated 3.5 million cricket bats every year. Most of the production is consumed locally, across in India.
Naseem Khushi of the Oman national cricket team plays with a bat produced in Kashmir during a game against Bangladesh at the T20 World Cup in Muscat, Oman, October 19, 2021. (Screengrab)
The bats used by the Omani squad came from GR8 Sports, a producer in Sangam, Anantnag district, in the southern part of Kashmir.
“This is for the first time that a Kashmir-based brand GR8 Sports made Kashmiri willow fitted bat for international players and it’s for the first time in the history that a Kashmiri willow bat of a Kashmiri brand has been chosen by international players,” GR8 Sports owner Fawzul Kabir Dar told Arab News.
His company produces around 60,000 willow bats every year but after the international spotlight, he expects it to increase.
“It will be a boon and a boost to the Kashmiri economy,” he said. “It’s long overdue recognition for the Kashmiri willow bat.”
Photos shared with Arab News by Oman team batsman Naseem Khushi on November 10, 2021 show him holding a cricket bat produced by Kashmir-based manufacturer GR8 Sports. (Photo courtesy: Naseem Khushi)
Naseem Khushi was one of the Oman players who appeared during T20 matches with a bat manufactured by GR8 Sports.
“I have been playing cricket for 20 years and for Oman for the last six years, this is for the first time I have used the bat made in Kashmir. Its more than satisfactory,” the wicketkeeper-batsman said.
He told Arab News there four players in the Oman squad playing with Kashmiri bats during the T20 World Cup and they were “going to use this bat not only for this tournament for all the events in future.”
For Dar and other industry stakeholders, having Oman team players use Kashmir-made equipment was proof that their bats were as good as those made in Great Britain.
“So far people did not have the understanding that Kashmiri willow is of the same quality as the British willow, now its proven that we are at par with our international competitor,” Dar said. “This has really brought cheers to the industry which for long has been yearning for international recognition.”
Mudassir Dar of Good Luck Sports, another Anantnag-based manufacturer, said he was “elated with the newfound recognition” of the Kashmiri-made bats and expressed hope that now they will also make entry into the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“We are making a progress,” he said. “God willing, we will introduce it in next year’s IPL.”
For Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) president Sheikh Ashiq Ahmad the entry of Kashmiri bats into international cricket is the “best time” for the region’s industry.
“So far Kashmiri manufacturers were supplying raw materials to the companies outside and now they are making the finished products themselves,” he said. “It’s a great achievement.”
He expressed hope for government support to expand the industry, which currently involves 10,000 families in the region.
“A small support in terms of branding and marketing from the government will help the local manufacturers a lot,” Ahmad said. “The expansion of the industry will engage more families in this business.”
