Kashmiris who live in United Arab Emirates thus came together for KSL since it is hard for a South Asian to stay away from a cricket game. On March 24, nearly 2,000 of them descended on Dubai international stadium. The fans cheered their teams on in their mother tongue with the fight reflected in the unique character of the places the two teams are named after: uptown Rajbagh and downtown Razey Kadal. The participation of a 24-member delegation of academicians, journalists, businessmen and civil society members, invited by the organisers, made it a celebration of “new bondage and connecting to our roots,” as the KSL management put it.
On March 24, nearly 2,000 Kashmiris descended on Dubai international stadium. The fans cheered their teams on in their mother tongue with the fight reflected in the unique character of the places the two teams are named after: uptown Rajbagh and downtown Razey Kadal
Three successful professionals, Inayat Fazili, Zubair Shah and Imran Malik, were the first to move the idea of creating KSL but they never thought it would grow so big and have such an impact. For them, it was just an idea that came up over a cup of coffee. They never imagined it would snowball.
It started with just four team in 2016 but when KSL-II culminated with 24 teams—all of them drawn from the UAE-based community, it created waves back home. “We have not seen anything coming up on our own; obviously it was beyond expectations,” as one of the organisers quipped. “But we take that also in stride. Criticism is part of any success. We are committed to bringing glory to our homeland through transparency and hard work.”
When four teams began playing the Twenty20 tournament, they were named the DreHomes Kashmir Super League after their sponsor, a real estate company. Season II with 224 players and 14 teams was inaugurated by international cricketer Parvez Rasool.
KSL-II turned out to be not just a cricket tourney on the pattern of the Indian Premier League or Pakistan Super League but at the final it was like a Kashmir carnival. All the teams were named after famous localities of Srinagar and other places. For the organisers getting Kashmiri tea in a samovar and then sitting on the grass field in Ajman to warm up the teams was something like creating Kashmir in the deserts of the UAE. That same samovar was later presented by the delegation to the organisers as a token of love from Kashmir. The trophies too smelled of Kashmir. The Rajbagh Royals lifted a copper cup with intricate design, which came from Kashmir. The man of the match trophies were of walnut wood and shaped like a chinar leaf.
The bats are also made from Kashmir willow.
Back home Kashmiris are embroiled in a conflict; they are choked, spaces have shrunk. But in the outside world they create their own spaces.
In the UAE, the Kashmiri community is, according to estimates, 10,000 people strong with many businessmen who have bought homes these and come and go. By coming together through cricket, the community has sent a strong message to the world that it is alive despite the fact that bullets continue to rain down on their youth and, in recent news, three young men were killed on March 28.
The writer is a senior journalist based in Srinagar (Kashmir) and can be reached at shujaat7867@gmail.com