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Cricket bats of Kashmir | Wind within the willow

The Kashmir willow, lengthy thought to be an inferior bat to its English counterpart, has after all hit the candy spot. However a scarcity of willow timber within the valley threatens to undo that hard earned reputation

BATTING HIGHS: Clefts stacked up for drying at a bat production unit in Awantipora. (Pictures via Abid Bhat)

Halmulla,ISSUE DATE: Sep 18, 2023 | UPDATED: Sep 7, 2023 20:16 IST

Fawzul Kabeer seems to be a tad crushed, guiding staff at his cricket bat production unit at Halmulla in south Kashmir’s Anantnag, as they fine-tune those in a position for despatch. “We need to in a position 300 cricket bats for 20 world avid gamers on this Global Cup. Part the order is entire however we’re operating past due into the evenings to get the remaining in a position,” says Kabeer, whose unit is the one one within the Valley to fulfill ICC (World Cricket Council) specs for cricket bats. Cricketers from 3 groups—Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan—can be enjoying the ICC one-day world cricket Global Cup in October with bats produced via his corporate, which works via the modish title GR8 Sports activities. “This is a proud second for our trade,” says Kabeer. “For the primary time, bats from our unit can be utilized in an ODI Global Cup. It’ll finish the monopoly of the English willow.”