Legends League allows long deprived fans to enjoy cricket again in Kashmir

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir – When Wasif Ahmad, a 34-year-old shopkeeper from Srinagar, saw a billboard announcing the accomplishment of planetary cricket stars successful his hometown, helium promptly bought tickets and decided to unopen his concern connected the time of the match.

Ahmad, similar thousands of cricket-mad Kashmiris, cared small for the deficiency of glitz and glamour successful the Legends League Cricket (LLC) – a franchise-based T20 cricket league involving erstwhile planetary cricketers – helium simply couldn’t miss an accidental to ticker a unrecorded cricket match.

With the accomplishment of the LLC’s 7 matches successful Srinagar from October 9 to 16, cricket yet returned to Indian-administered Kashmir – 1 of the world’s astir heavy militarised regions and synonymous with uprisings against the cardinal Indian government’s control.

Ahmad, an avid cricket fan, grew up playing the crippled and listening to his father’s tales astir the 2 planetary cricket matches that Kashmir hosted successful the 1980s – but had ne'er been to one.

“Seeing planetary cricketers play unrecorded [in Kashmir] felt similar a distant imagination to me,” Ahmad told Al Jazeera portion watching the Gujarat Greats instrumentality connected the Konark Suryas Odisha astatine Bakshi Stadium, the region’s oldest sports venue successful the bosom of Srinagar.

Cricket fans of each property groups formed agelong snaking queues extracurricular the stadium nether the stern glare of information personnel. Families with young children and groups of women flocked to ticker their archetypal unrecorded cricket match.

Inside the stadium, a vibrant assemblage packed the stands up of the 7pm (13:30 GMT) crippled that stretched precocious into the nighttime – a rarity successful a metropolis wherever nightlife has been non-existent amid decades of turmoil.

Floodlights illuminated the crushed and formed a glow implicit the adjacent streets arsenic large euphony from the stadium’s nationalist code system, coupled with the roaring chants of the crowd, filtered retired of the 30,000-capacity venue.

The beingness of hundreds of equipped information unit successful camouflaged uniforms and dozens of patrolling vehicles provided a stark reminder of mundane beingness successful Kashmir – wherever bid and hostility often co-exist.

Despite the challenges, the weeklong cricket extravaganza seemed to person brought a impermanent flight from the region’s analyzable and often convulsive history.

The Legends League Cricket tournament, which brought planetary cricketers backmost to Indian-administered Kashmir aft 39 years, saw thousands of fans be the matches astatine Bakshi Stadium successful Srinagar [Shuaib Bashir/Al Jazeera]

Cricket’s fractured past successful Kashmir

Kashmir hosted its archetypal planetary cricket lucifer successful October 1983, erstwhile immoderate of cricket’s biggest names arrived successful the vale arsenic recently crowned satellite champions India hosted the past mighty West Indies successful a one-day planetary (ODI) lucifer astatine the Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium successful Srinagar.

The crippled was rocked by protests and disfigured scenes arsenic the spectators cheered for the West Indians successful a people of dissent.

Some protesters entered the crushed during the innings interruption and damaged parts of the transportation but the lucifer was completed arsenic the visitors won by 28 runs.

In 1986, India hosted Australia successful an ODI. The visitors besides recovered unexpected enactment successful the Kashmiri superior and bushed the hosts by 3 wickets.

Three years later, an anti-India equipped rebellion erupted successful the valley. The cardinal authorities deployed astir 700,000 troops to suppress the movement, making the portion arsenic 1 of the world’s astir heavy militarised struggle zones.

The Muslim-majority Himalayan portion is divided betwixt nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, which regularisation implicit parts of the territory but assertion it successful its entirety and person fought 3 of their 4 wars implicit it.

Tens of thousands of radical person been killed successful the decades-old conflict, astir of them civilians. Hundreds of information checkpoints are dispersed crossed the vale to show locals’ movements.

In August 2019, India scrapped a instrumentality that granted peculiar presumption to the region, stripping Kashmir of the important autonomy it had enjoyed for 7 decades. The determination was followed by an indefinite lockdown and a important unit deployment to suppress protests.

International cricket’s decades-long lack from Kashmir, then, is arsenic unremarkable arsenic the beingness of hundreds of gun-toting information unit successful the environs of Bakshi Stadium.

Students locomotion towards Bakshi Stadium nether the regard of information unit successful Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir [Shuaib Bashir/Al Jazeera]

‘A superficial effort to showcase normalcy’

Bakshi Stadium, named aft Jammu and Kashmir’s erstwhile premier curate Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, has been a politically important venue since its inauguration successful the 1950s.

In summation to hosting high-profile sports events, the stadium has besides served arsenic a venue for governmental rallies, but the equipped rebellion that began successful 1989 rendered the stadium non-functional and each athletics events were suspended.

When India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Kashmir successful March, helium addressed a ample assemblage astatine Bakshi Stadium and promised a slew of developmental projects successful the region.

While the LLC’s 7 matches person attracted thousands of entertainment-deprived cricket fans, galore locals spot the tournament’s beingness successful Kashmir done the prism of “enforced normalcy”.

Kashmiris judge that Modi’s authorities has employed athletics arsenic a instrumentality to task a peaceful representation of the region, contempt its fractious reality.

Indian-administered Kashmir’s Chief Minister-designate Omar Abdullah, whose National Conference emerged arsenic the azygous largest winning enactment successful the caller elections, was besides contiguous astatine Bakshi Stadium and insisted helium would promote the upliftment of sport.

For the thousands of cricket fans queueing astatine the stadium’s summons booth, specified arsenic Seeban Farooq, the tournament’s popularity was a testament to the region’s “craze” for cricket but would bash small to beforehand section cricketers.

“These events person small to bash with the upliftment of section talent,” helium said.

A young cricketer, who requested anonymity, told Al Jazeera that the LLC could “fuel the dreams” of aspiring Kashmiri cricketers – lone to beryllium crushed by the harsh reality.

“Substandard infrastructure, deficiency of due pitches and minimal facilities rise superior concerns astir the aboriginal of cricket improvement successful the region,” said the young subordinate dressed successful his all-white cricket attire.

“It’s a superficial effort to showcase normalcy portion suppressing the underlying issues faced by section athletes.”

Kashmiris, similar millions of different South Asians, are obsessed with cricket. The athletics is an integral portion of the region’s fashionable civilization and offers locals an flight from the longstanding governmental tension.

In Kashmir, though, authorities and cricket stay inseparable and erstwhile India and Pakistan meet connected the cricket pitch, beingness successful the vale comes to a standstill.

An underlying tension, emanating from the Kashmiri fans’ enactment for the Pakistani squad arsenic a means of dissent against the cardinal government, grips the region. It’s not uncommon for information officials to detain young men implicit pro-Pakistan sloganeering.

The LLC, too, had its stock of India-Pakistan authorities erstwhile information forces evicted 2 young fans for chanting the names of Pakistani cricketers Shahid Afridi and Babar Azam.

Cricket fans queue extracurricular a ticketing antagonistic astatine Bakshi Stadium [Shuaib Bashir/Al Jazeera]

Does cricket person a aboriginal successful Kashmir?

Sharda Ugra, a salient Indian sports writer, believes Kashmiri cricketers person been victims of the governmental concern successful the valley.

“There person been spurts of authoritative cricket enactment and the emergence of young players each present and then, but it has been a substance of chance, alternatively than the effect of determination cricket officials’ efforts to beryllium seen arsenic a forward-thinking organisation,” Ugra told Al Jazeera.

The Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), cricket’s governing assemblage successful the region, has been beset with governmental infighting and allegations of fiscal impropriety.

Ugra, too, believes the hosting of the LLC is portion of the “normalcy narrative”.

“It’s a batch of amusive but I uncertainty if it volition foster young endowment oregon enactment oregon promote young players. It’s lawsuit management, not a sustained sports policy.”

Cricket is dispersed crossed the picturesque vale but the players spot little, if any, scope for the game’s improvement successful the disputed region.

The countless lush greenish fields dotting Kashmir big amateur cricket matches and unofficial leagues organised by locals.

A Srinagar-based cricket coach, who did not privation to disclose his sanction arsenic helium was employed by the section government, admitted the deficiency of cricket grounds forced galore young cricketers to play mostly connected substandard jute matting pitches.

“The Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium remains retired of bounds for section cricketers, basal facilities are non-existent and coaching camps are unheard of,” helium explained.

“All of these factors lend to the deficiency of improvement of section endowment and permission a spread successful Kashmir’s cricketing landscape.”

Back astatine Bakshi Stadium, thousands of Kashmiris descended connected the superior from acold and wide to drawback a glimpse of unrecorded cricket enactment contempt the multilayered information beingness and tense ambiance successful the valley.

Shahid Ahmad travelled 48 kilometres (30 miles) from his location successful Bijbehara village, successful the confederate territory of Anantnag, to ticker Chris Gayle.

The swashbuckling West Indian opener lived up to his billing, hitting 3 sixes and 2 fours for the Gujarat Giants. While his squad failed to marque the final, Gayle, a charismatic cricketer who is ever a assemblage favourite wherever helium plays, promised to instrumentality to Kashmir.

When the LLC wraps up its Kashmir limb with the last connected Wednesday, Kashmiri cricket fans and players volition beryllium near wondering if they volition person to hold different 39 years to measurement wrong their “home ground”.

Zaid Ahad, a young instrumentality watching the lucifer astatine the packed Bakshi Stadium connected Saturday, did not radiate optimism.

“It’s inspiring to ticker large players but section boys would ne'er beryllium allowed to play present – that’s conscionable the mode things are here.”

Young boys and girls playing cricket successful a colony successful Indian-administered Kashmir’s Bandipora territory [Shuaib Bashir/Al Jazeera]