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Nearly four decades after the last international cricket match was played in Srinagar, thousands of fans have thronged the city’s Bakhshi stadium – a football ground temporarily used for cricket – for a week-long spectacle involving former international cricketers, including big names like Chris Gayle and Ian Bell. Over 120 players, including the West Indies and England stars Gayle and Bell, as well Indian stars Irfan Pathan and Shikhar Dhawan , were in Srinagar as part of the Legends League Cricket (LLC) tournament that is bringing the “big cricket stars to small cities”. “The objective of this league is to promote the culture of cricket and fitness and to inspire the young generation,” said Raman Raheja, co-founder of the LLC. Kashmir has hosted two international cricket matches four decades ago. In 1983, as India took on the West Indies in the first international match at Srinagar’s Sher-i-Kashmir Cricket Stadium, many in the crowd had jeered at the Indian players. As the two teams broke for lunch, a group of young men invaded the pitch and tried to damage it. India lost the match. Three years after the India-West Indies showdown, international cricket returned to the ground in 1986, when the Australian cricket team visited. As the Australia-India match was being played in the stadium, protesting young men clashed with police on the streets. Universe Boss for a reason 💥 #KSOvGG #BossLogonKaGame #LegendsLeagueCricket #LLCSeason3 #LLCT20 #Srinagar pic.twitter.com/zOajTicPKU — Legends League Cricket (@llct20) October 11, 2024 This time, with the LLC coming to the city, crowds of up to 15,000 showed up to watch. “This was our first opportunity to watch international stars playing cricket. How could we have missed it?” asks a 26-year-old, who was part of a group of young fans. “You can’t miss the big hits of Chris Gayle or Irfan Pathan. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we are enjoying it to the fullest,” he says. The matches are being played under heavy security cover – drones hovered over the stands to monitor every movement of the spectators as hundreds of police and paramilitary personnel kept watch, especially after an incident where slogans for Pakistan cricketer Babar Azam echoed in and outside the stadium. “You can’t leave anything to chance, especially when there are big crowds,” said a police officer, adding, “It has been a smooth event thus far, and we hope the finals will also pass on peacefully.” LLC co-founder Raheja praised the efforts of the civil and police administration. “Security was something that was always on our mind, especially when you have such big stars here. But the administration facilitated everything. The players are happy, and they have brought their families and visited many places like Gulmarg,” he said. Srinagar Deputy Commissioner Dr Bilal Mohidin said the cricket league is the outcome of a “transition towards normalcy”. “We hope the times are coming back when the fathers or grandfathers of these young boys witnessed cricket in Kashmir. We are organising more and more such programmes,” he said. However, many fans are not happy linking the LLC with normalcy in the Valley. “I am tired of this attempt at linking everything to normalcy. I went for the first match because I wanted to enjoy cricket,” said a 32-year-old from Srinagar Old Town. “But then I skipped all other matches as they started parroting normalcy. I missed watching Gayle play,” he said. It was not an easy task to turn a football field into a cricket ground. The primary reason for the choice of the venue was its capacity, as it could hold up to 25,000 spectators. “It took us two months to prepare the turf. We brought the soil from Gujarat,” Raheja said. While thousands turned up, Raheja said he expected more. “When you have such international stars playing, you expect a bigger crowd,” he said. “Next time, we are definitely coming back to Srinagar with more international players,” he added. The final of the LLC was played at the Bakhshi stadium on Wednesday between Southern Super Stars and Konark Suryas Odisha . Southern Super Stars won the match in the super over after both teams made 164 runs in 20 overs. Bashaarat Masood is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express. He has been covering Jammu and Kashmir, especially the conflict-ridden Kashmir valley, for two decades. Bashaarat joined The Indian Express after completing his Masters in Mass Communication and Journalism from the University in Kashmir. He has been writing on politics, conflict and development. Bashaarat was awarded with the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2012 for his stories on the Pathribal fake encounter. ... Read More None
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