SRINAGAR: The demand for Kashmir Willow bats has increased in the global markets after international cricket players from Oman and UAE used them in the T20 World Cups. Now, approximately 17 more players from six cricketing nations have acquired bats made from Kashmiri Willow for the ODI World Cup 2023 scheduled to be held in India this October.
The individuals associated with this industry expressed joy that more countries have started using Kashmir Willow bats in professional games. They anticipate that more teams will procure the bats in the future.
There are around 400 cricket bat manufacturing units in the industrial area from Sangam to Awantipora in south Kashmir, and the bats from one unit (GR8 Sports) have reached the international stage, they said.
Fawzul Kabir, a 30-year-old MBA graduate from the Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) Awantipora, who is pursuing a PhD at DCU in Ireland, told KNO that after strenuous efforts, a few players from Oman and UAE played with Kashmiri bats, and now 17 more players from six nations have agreed to play with their bats. The bats are being manufactured at the GR8 Sports industry in Halmulla Sangam area of Anantnag – the first and only ICC-approved brand of J&K to date, he said, adding that UAE’s star cricketer Junaid Siddiqui was able to hit the biggest six of the ICC T20 World Cup against Sri Lanka in Australia last year using a Kashmir Willow Bat from GR8 Sports.
Kabir, who is the owner of this unit that his late father started in 1974, said the demand for his Kashmiri bats has increased in the international markets. “We are in contact with more cricketing nations and are hopeful that, in the future, all cricketing nations will play with Kashmiri bats,” he said.
Fawzul informed that players going to play with Kashmiri bats are from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, West Indies, UAE, and Oman. The number of countries playing with Kashmiri bats is increasing every year, and our goal is for players from top cricketing nations to play with our bats, he said.
“We have already sent consignments to around two dozen countries, and many orders are also in the queue,” he said, adding, “This is just the beginning for us, and we are hopeful that famous international players will soon play with our bats.”
Kashmiri bats have emerged as tough competitors to English willow bats, as we are the only ones who can produce these bats at a much lower cost than English willow, he added.
Now our goal is for prolific players like Virat Kohli, Babar Azam, and others to play with our Kashmir-made bats, he expressed.
Kabir further said that previously they were only preparing white-label goods or raw materials for bats, which were then sent to Jalandhar, Meerut, and other cities where they were using their own brand and selling them to international players.
“Now, we are exclusively preparing bats here, and it is the first time that our manufacturing has reached the ODI World Cup, as the last players played with Kashmiri bats in the T20 World Cup,” Kabir said. (KNO)
