Explained : In season of Jammu vs Kashmir politics, why cricket team reaching Ranji finals sends a message and Its Impact

For the first time in 67 years, the Jammu and Kashmir cricket team will play in the finals of the Ranji Trophy, India’s premier first-class domestic cricket tournament.

On Tuesday, the team will take on Karnataka in the finals to be played in Hubli.

Whatever be the outcome of the match, in a sharply divided union territory, the team’s journey this far carries a symbolism that goes beyond the cricket pitch, observers told Scroll.

The team’s success comes in the backdrop of a series of controversies and calls to split Jammu from Kashmir that, many feel, have deepened the divide between the two regions. “The team’s victory has sent the message of unity,” said Dr Rameshwar Singh, an independent Member of Legislative Assembly from Bani constituency of Jammu’s Kathua district.

The team’s victory on February 8 against Bengal in the Ranji Trophy semi-finals was lauded on the floor of the Jammu and Kashmir legislative Assembly. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, while congratulating the team, said, “No one wins [matches in] the Ranji Trophy on their own.”

A break from ‘Jammu versus Kashmir’

While the team was training for its matches in January, an unseemly controversy erupted in Jammu and Kashmir.

Protests led by a group of nearly 60 organisations allied to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh against the admission of Muslim students led to the shutting down of a newly set up medical college in Katra.

This was not an isolated case of polarising Jammu versus Kashmir politics.

In December, the Jammu and Kashmir government had been forced to order an inquiry into the selection of the football team for Santosh Trophy after several groups in Jammu, including the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress, alleged that footballers from the region were being discriminated against. Of the 20-member team selected for the competition, only one player was from Jammu.

Weeks later, similar objections were raised against the selection of the under-14 boys’ cricket team of Jammu and Kashmir for the 69th National School Games. Since the 16-player-team had only three players from the Jammu region, the selection had invited a lot of criticism and allegations of bias on social media.

Even a proposed National Law University in Kashmir has become a flashpoint between the two regions. The Bharatiya Janata Party has led protests to demand that the law varsity be set up in Jammu instead of Kashmir.

The Jammu and Kashmir Ranji team, with four players from the Valley and 14 from Jammu, fortunately escaped such attention. “Thankfully, this team and the process behind its selection did not come to the notice of politicians who do Jammu versus Kashmir politics,” said Singh, the legislator from Bani. “Otherwise, leave alone reaching the finals, this proud team would not have existed in the first place.”

In Kashmir Valley, many shared Singh’s observations. “This victory is a setback to all those forces who want to divide Jammu and Kashmir on the basis of religion,” said Sarfaraz Wani, a lawyer in Srinagar, who practices in the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. “When it comes to sports, there is no question of caste, religion or region where you come from. All that matters is talent. Wherever we appreciate merit, we will prosper. Otherwise, we are bound to suffer.”

A team effort

Led by Himachal Pradesh batsman Paras Dogra, the team has been drawn from across Jammu and Kashmir, and includes a player from Uttarakhand. Of the 14 players from Jammu, five are Muslims.

The team’s success has been driven by some stand-out performers.

Take, for example, 29-year-old right-arm pacer Auqib Nabi from North Kashmir’s Baramulla district. This season, Nabi has taken 55 wickets – the first bowler from Jammu and Kashmir to have picked up 50 wickets in a single Ranji season.

Supporting him on the other end in the bowling department is Sunil Kumar, a 28-year-old left arm pacer from Jammu’s Akhnoor area. Kumar bagged 29 wickets in the season.

Averaging nearly 60 this season, Abdul Samad, a middle-order batsman from Jammu’s Rajouri district, has been another star for the team.

Former cricketers in the region attribute the success to the team’s commitment, hard work and mindset developed by past players.

Parvez Rasool, Jammu and Kashmir’s first cricketer to represent India at the national level, said the turning point in the team’s mindset came around 2010s when the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association asked legendary Indian spinner Bishen Singh Bedi to coach the team.

“Until then, the Jammu and Kashmir team would just participate,” said Rasool, who led the Ranji side for six consecutive years before he retired last year. “When Bedi Sir came, he motivated us to compete, even if we ended up losing.”

In the 2013-’14 season, J&K’s team made it to the quarter finals for the time. In the previous season, Rasool emerged as a star all-round performer, making 594 runs and picking 33 wickets. In 2014, Rasool made his debut in the Indian Premier League. The same year, he debuted for India against Bangladesh. “My inclusion in the national team and IPL was a strong motivation for the youngsters in the team to believe that they can also do their best,” he said.

The Jammu and Kashmir might be underdogs going into the finals with Karnataka, but Rasool said he is not surprised with the team’s performance this season. “If you see, we have consistently reached the stage of quarter finals in the previous seasons,” he said. “This success is the result of a long process and hard work. It didn’t happen in one day.”

According to Singh, the MLA from Jammu, the fact that the team remained insulated from Jammu and Kashmir’s divisive politics was perhaps a boon. “Before the recent victory, nobody, not even the politicians, were following the team’s performance,” he added.

‘Sports can help a conversation’

The Jammu and Kashmir divisions of the erstwhile state have rarely agreed on matters economical or political. More so since 2019, when Jammu and Kashmir was stripped of its statehood and special status. While Jammu had celebrated the loss of protections to land and jobs for natives, the annulment of special status remains a deeply unpopular move in the Valley.

Anmol Ohri, a climate activist and journalist from Jammu, says J&K’s Ranji performance shows the role sports can play in bridging the gap between two regions. “Definitely, there are differences between the two regions,” he said. “For that, we have to talk to each other and not let someone exploit those differences. Sports, art and culture can help us have a conversation,” he said.

Viewing college admissions or the composition of sports teams through the divisive lens of religion or region would not be in favour of Jammu and Kashmir, he added. “It will always be counter productive,” said Ohri. “For example, after the closure of Katra medical college recently, there were many voices within Jammu which said shutting down the medical college entirely is not beneficial for the region. Maybe those voices didn’t come out in a coordinated way but there’s a strong feeling of displeasure against the shutting down of the college.”

A former Ranji cricketer from the Valley said Jammu has traditionally had a dominant say in the selection as well as the management of the team. “But when you are a player and there is a professional environment within the team, things like religion, region or caste take a backseat,” he said. “You play as a team and what matters is talent and performance. Nothing else.”

Rasool agreed. “I have captained this team for six years and I have never seen any division around the lines of Jammu versus Kashmir,” he said. “For a sportsman, these things don’t concern him.”