Wrongly suspected of terror links,J&K’s Pervez replies — with his bat in Bangalore

Walking in with his side Jammu and Kashmir bloodied by the loss of two wickets for next to nothing against Karnataka in their CK Nayudu Trophy game,Rasool unleashed a barrage of glorious strokes,lighting up an empty Chinnaswamy as he raced to his fifty off only 49 balls.

At lunch,that had become 56 off 60,with eight fours. When Rasool walked back to the pavilion,all his teammates came out on the ground to welcome him. And the man who had refused to allow the few cameras present to capture his face only a few hours ago,took off his helmet,waved to his buddies and beamed.

The party didn’t last long in the second session — Rasool smashed a six but was out soon after to a poor shot at 68. But he had made his statement,and found his redemption. At stumps,his team was a respectable 292/9.

“I was in a poor frame of mind after what happened on Saturday. My family and my coaches spoke to me and said you have come to play cricket,so just concentrate and play cricket. Today,when I walked in to bat,I forgot about everything else,” the young batsman told The Indian Express.

Once he was over the shock,the events of October 17 — Bangalore police had arrested him after a new,seemingly malfunctioning security system at the stadium raised an alarm about explosives in his bag — served to fire up his entire team.

“The incident has made us play with new zeal. We decided what is over is over and we will concentrate on the game. We decided we have to show through our cricket that we are cricket players first and last,” said Rasool.

“Insha Allah,the forensic test reports will also be all clear now.”

The final report on Rasool’s bag is still awaited. However,senior police officers in Bangalore said Wednesday that the preliminary analysis had ruled out the presence of explosives,and they did not expect the final result to be any different.

“I had never been to a police station in my life. I have played so much cricket,I have travelled so much,but I never imagined something like this would happen to me,” Rasool said.

Though this is J&K’s maiden appearance in the elite group for the Under-22 championship,Rasool himself is a fairly experienced cricketer. He has been around for five years now,and had a good U-22 season last year,scoring two centuries and taking 14 wickets. That performance — which would have made his heroes Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh proud — pushed J&K to the top of North Zone,ahead of teams like Delhi and Haryana,and got his team entry into the elite group. His father,Ghulam Rasool,an employee of the Public Works Department,has played league cricket and his two brothers play for sides in the state.

“I did not realise the gravity of the incident when the police were questioning me. I realised it when my family called me that evening and they were all crying. They had been watching TV.

“I could not sleep that night. I kept thinking about my family who have always believed that I will one day make them proud.”

Cricket is as popular — and has as much talent — in J&K as in the rest of India,Rasool said,“but it happens only for six months in Kashmir. Plus,the infrastructure is

poor,there are no academies like in Karnataka,there are very few coaches,there are no stadiums and very little training facilities.”

J&K team coach Abdul Qayoom said the advent of Twenty20 and tournaments like the IPL and ICL had boosted the popularity of the game in the Valley. The day Rasool was picked up,the U-22 side had planned to watch the Champions League game together,wearing team T-shirts and carrying a JKCA banner.

The celebrations ultimately happened today.