Ranji Trophy: J&K's stirring campaign amid several odds

The scenes at the Gandhi Memorial Science College ground here on Monday evening did little to suggest that the home team's stirring 2019-20 Ranji Trophy campaign had come to an end.

The Jammu & Kashmir team was applauded by the crowd as they walked off the field. Of course with their heads held high as the selfie-seeking fans mobbed their favourite players. The players met their family members, who greeted them with affectionate smiles and a sense of pride.

After putting up a spirited fight in the first half of their quarterfinal against Karnataka, the hosts crumbled under pressure and suffered a massive defeat. The minnows were dejected no doubt but the satisfaction on their faces was hard to miss. Considering the adversities they faced in the run up to the season, not many had given them a chance to come this far.

The prevailing political scenario in the state in August last had put an end to all cricketing activities. Fast forward to six months, the Parvez Rasool-led side had booked their third ever Ranji quarterfinal berth having registered six victories from nine games in Group C. Milap Mewada, current coach of J&K, was proud of his boys. The former Baroda player cannot forget those days of helplessness.

"From August 3, we didn’t train for one month. We didn’t know how to bring all the players together,” he told DH.

It took several meetings with Irfan Pathan, the team’s mentor, for Mewada to find a way out. “Irfan and I met Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association CEO Ashiq Bukhari and the court-appointed administrator Justice CK Prasadh (Rtd) and we decided to bring the players in Kashmir to Jammu. Because in Jammu, the situation was slightly better, with landline connections working and we could take them to any part of India for our preparations.

“But it was an arduous task. We sent messages through local police in Kashmir to the particular players. We also put a ticker in local television channels of Kashmir, asking the players to assemble in Jammu. Once all the squad members were together in Jammu, we shifted base to Baroda with the help of Irfan,” Mewada recollected.

The coach-mentor duo had another challenge of helping the players get over the shock of central government's move to bifurcate the state and focus on cricket. “We first gave them enough time to recover mentally. Irfan and I had many one-on-one sessions. We designed team-bonding sessions. It was a well planned process that resulted in a team that put unity above everything,” Mewada explained.

The team responded brilliantly to the efforts of the management. Winning all three practice games against a full-fledged Baroda side was a sign of better things to come. It’s the young blood in the squad that made the difference for Jammu. Five batsmen scored 400 plus runs and as many bowlers picked up more than 20 wickets.

“There is immense talent in J&K,” Pathan told DH. “We are planning to get more turf pitches to districts. I have proposed for more two-day tournaments,” he said.

The talents like left-arm pacer Mujtaba Yousaf and Abdul Samad appear to be J&K’s future. Samad, the big-hitting 18-year-old, who has been picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad, struck 36 sixes in this Ranji season.

Mujtaba, who would travel 50 kilometres from Bijbehara in Anantnag district to Srinigar to play cricket, said: “Irfan sir instilled the belief that we could make the knockouts. Earlier we would be satisfied with one win. Now we are a changed side.”

Cricket would have more heart-warming stories if this belief takes J&K higher.