The J&K women cricketers on Monday played with Australian great Adam Gilchrist followed by an interactive session at Australian High Commission, New Delhi.
The 11 shortlisted J&K cricketers played exhibition match against a team from the Jesus and Mary Convent. The J&K side was led by legendary Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist.
It was one-off exhibition match that was followed by interactive session at Conference Hall of Delhi University in which Gilchrist talked about life of a cricketer and answered to various question from the audience.
The match was conducted by Government of Jammu and Kashmir in collaboration with Australia India Institute and Australian High Commission. For the match State Cricket Academy had shortlisted 11 female cricketers who all got decent cricketing background and have represented State in various national level events.
The shortlisted players included, Bushra Ashraf , Abraq Zahoor, Sheeraza Banoo, Meenaz Khaliq, Saima Rashid , Asra, Farkhandha Khan , Sarla Devi, Jaspreet Kour, Sonika, and Lalita Kumari. The team includes seven cricketers from Kashmir and four from Jammu. It would be playing under coach Abida Khan.
Among others present on the occasion were Australian high Commissioner Harinder Sidhu, Advisor to Chief Minister Prof. Amitabh Mattoo, Secretary Sports Council Waheed ur Rehman Parra.
“Dream of meeting Gilchrist came true and our girls need to play more tournaments,” Delhi based News Agency quoted coach Abida Khan.
“Boys get to play all year round, halaat kharab sirf ladkiyon ke liye hain,” Khan adds.
Waheed Ur Rehman Parra, secretary of the Sports Council, J&K, told The Indian Express that while states such as Haryana and Gujarat spend over Rs 500 crore on sports annually, J&K spends a meagre Rs 4 crore.
The architect of the event, Amitabh Mattoo, adviser to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, says the idea behind the event is to provide an opportunity and exposure to talent from the Valley. ( Source GK)