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Journalism of Courage
As Salman of the Sultan Warriors Baramulla clean bowls Royal Goodwill batter Nasir Hussain, a thunderous roar resounds in Pulwama’s Sports Stadium. Seconds later, two loud bangs stun the crowd into silence – but it’s not gunfire, it’s celebratory fireworks.
The stadium, whose turf was laid just a month earlier, is currently the stage for Kashmir’s biggest sporting spectacle — the Royal Premier League. Beginning August 25, the fortnight-long tournament will have 160 players across 10 teams — celebrating Kashmir’s love for the gentleman’s game. The tournament will conclude on September 8.
“This is insane,” a policeman proclaims as he tries to manage traffic at a bottleneck outside the stadium. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I have seen big cricketing events, but this is different — people are coming from 60-70 km away.”
The swelling crowd here is a testament to the Valley’s love for the sport. Long queues of people and cars snake their way towards the stadium, all heading to witness Pulwama’s first tryst with cricket under the night lights.
“People may not have expected it, but I knew this was going to be a different experience,” Irfan Ahmad Bhat, league coordinator and organiser, tells The Indian Express. “The crowd was unprecedented. What we know is that around 10,000 people couldn’t reach the ground because of traffic jams.”
Among those who had trouble reaching was Arif Ahmad, who had travelled from Narbal in Baramulla district to support the Sultan Warriors. Stuck outside Gudoora village on the outskirts of the town, Ahmad and his friends decided to walk 3 km to the stadium.
When he spots the stadium’s bright floodlights, Ahmad can’t contain his excitement. “There it is,” he tells his friends.
If the atmosphere inside the stadium is electric, the one outside is just as alive. The town that sleeps just after the last call for prayer at 9 pm is buzzing – street vendors sell late into the night, shops are brimming with excited crowds, and police cars are patrolling sports-crazy crowds.
The stadium is run by the Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council. Although it has existed for decades, the turf was laid only last month, and floodlights had to be leased from New Delhi. According to organiser Irfan Bhat, the Valley has a large pool of raw talent but not the infrastructure to support them.
“Our children struggle at the bigger stages because they don’t have the experience of playing on a turf or under floodlights. I wanted to facilitate it,” he says.
But it’s not just cricketers from the Valley that the tournament showcases. According to Bhat, the league features 60 players from outside Jammu and Kashmir.
The Valley is no stranger to cricket. Last year, Srinagar hosted the Legends League Cricket at its Bakshi football stadium, featuring a host of former cricketers – from Chris Gayle to Yousuf Pathan. The game had attracted 15,000 spectators, but organisers believe that the crowd at last week’s game surpassed that.
According to Pulwama legislator and Peoples Democratic Party leader Waheed Para, the Royal Premier League was a means to bring joy back into the Valley.
“Kashmir is searching for happiness more than peace,” Para, who was present at the stadium during the inaugural match, says. “Over the last many decades, youth have faced death, drugs and depression. One generation is in graves, another in jails, and our generation is facing drugs and depression. This event is a process to reclaim happiness.”
However, the past casts a long shadow. Kashmir has a chequered history with sporting events, having hosted two international cricket matches.
The first was 1983, when India took on West Indies in the first international match at Srinagar’s Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium. Indian players were met with a jeering crowd that raised Pakistani slogans and held up posters of Imran Khan. When the teams broke for lunch, a group of young men invaded the pitch to damage it.
India lost the match after the play was stopped by bad light and a dust storm.
The second was three years later, when the Australian cricket team visited Srinagar. As Australia and India were playing inside the stadium, young men clashed with police on the streets to protest a match being held in a “disputed territory”.
This time around, a large contingent of police is stationed around the stadium. The Valley has deep scars that need healing, says Abid Ali, who has travelled from Shopian. “Sports have the potential to put an ointment on the wounds. These small celebrations can bring a big change.”
