For a team which was content with occasional wins, Jammu and Kashmir’s successful Ranji Trophy campaign will go down as one of the most surreal moments in sport.
Only a few years ago, Jammu & Kashmir lacked the basic infrastructure for first-class cricket but Mithun Manhas, the current BCCI president, played a huge role in their turnaround. He joined as a key administrator in the BCCI-appointed subcommittee to overlook the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association in 2021 and that’s how the story unfolded.
Today, Manhas couldn’t hide his glee. “It’s very special and very close to my heart. Considering the hardships that we faced and the flak that we got as subcommittee members, it’s heartening to see the boys and the results that they’ve shown us. And the whole process started in June 2021 when a subcommittee was appointed by the BCCI...
“I think a lot of credit goes to Jay bhai (Jay Shah), the then general secretary and the ICC chair now. The kind of support that he has given to JKCA is beyond imagination,” Manhas told The Telegraph on Saturday evening.
“Then the whole process started and, you know, after a span of four years, here we are, the Ranji champions. It’s a proud moment for each and every one of us.”
Even chief minister Omar Abdullah was present to cheer the team in their moment of glory at Hubballi on Saturday.
The change wasn’t easy and it took years of hard work and support to instill self-belief in the players.
“They were insecure, to be honest. Once they got the belief and they started believing that, you know, they have the full support of the administration and they have the selectors backing them, so there was no looking back,” Manhas recalled. “It’s like, you know, even if they were failing, we were backing them and we had a very good, talented bunch. Once you get talented players, you invest in them. And results are to be seen.”
How did this shift in mentality come about? “Nothing much... If you look at our campaign that started in 2021, nothing much has changed. We have got the same set of selectors, the coaches... And the same bunch of boys, I think a pool of probably 30 players was created, and those players have been rotated according to their performances.
“And if they didn’t do well, they came back to the drawing board. If somebody is not doing well in first-class cricket and he’s under-23, we used to send him to the U-23 tournament to score runs. That’s the way we have been dealing with all our players.”
The BCCI president is hoping this success will rub off on the younger generation.
“The first one is always special, but I’m sure there’s a lot more to come. J&K cricket is on the rise. There’ll be people who’ll be taking up the game seriously now. There’ll be youngsters who’ve seen these young fighters on TV fighting, and then winning the trophy. And I’m sure they’re the role models now.
“You’ll see a lot more players taking up cricket and I’m sure J&K will benefit from that in the long run.”