‘Priority will be to keep politics out of sports’

JAMMU: There was a sense of achievement here as Jammu and Kashmir reached their maiden Ranji Trophy final.

Calling it a renaissance of J&K cricket, chief minister Omar Abdullah, the J&K assembly and lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha congratulated the team, which completed a semifinal win over Bengal in Kalyani. Sports minister Satish Sharma said the players deserve “greater applause” as they achieved the feat despite lack of cricket facilities in the state.


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The LG called it a remarkable victory. “Congratulations to the J&K cricket team on their magnificent victory in the Ranji Trophy semifinal. You have etched a new golden chapter in the sporting history of J&K,” he wrote on X.

In the Jammu and Kashmir assembly, Congress legislator Nizamuddin Bhat informed the house about the feat and the speaker and the members congratulated the team amid applause.

Chief minister Abdullah said that “this landmark achievement” reflects the team’s determination, discipline and rising sporting culture in Jammu and Kashmir.

Omar praised team captain Paras Dogra for becoming the second player in the Indian domestic circuit to score 10,000 plus runs in the Ranji Trophy and Auqib Nabi for his nine-wicket haul in the semi-final, taking his season’s tally to 55 from 16 innings.

“With grit, courage, and unbreakable belief,” she said, players have written a golden chapter in J&K’s sporting journey,” said former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.

The state sports minister pointed out that the landmark was achieved despite the lack of infrastructure and adequate sports facilities in the Union Territory. “I wish we win the final,” he said, while conceding that basic facilities for cricketers are still lacking in Jammu and Kashmir.

He said the government would work to streamline the system and ensure better support for sportspersons. “Our priority will be to keep politics and politicians away from sports,” Sharma told TOI.

Nuzhat Gul, secretary J&K sports council called it “a moment of immense pride.” Ruling National Conference spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar called it “a red-letter day for Jammu and Kashmir cricket and for Jammu and Kashmir as a whole”.


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