As many as six players from Jammu and Kashmir are serving as net-bowlers in different Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises, KSportsWatch.com learned through sources on Monday.
The players include Tahir Bhat, a right-arm 6 feet, 5-inch-tall pacer from Srinagar and Sahil Lotra, an off-spinner who had a decent outing in the Ranji Trophy last season. The duo is with Sunrisers Hyderabad who made it to the finals of the last IPL season.
Right-arm pace duo from Kashmir: Waseem Bashir, who is known for his speed, and youngster Faizan Mir are with Rajasthan Royals. They both were part of RR last season as well.
Apart from these, Sunil Kumar, a left-arm pacer, and Avinash Singh, a right-arm speedster, both from Jammu, are with Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings, respectively. While Sunil is a solid swing bowler, Avinash is believed to bowl in high 140kmphs.
J&K is known to produce high-quality fast bowlers and almost every year, a score of J&K bowlers serve different IPL teams as net bowlers, particularly after the rise of Umran Malik.
While Umran was ruled out of IPL 2025 due to an injury, Rasikh Salam, who was bought at a whopping amount of 6 Crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore, already appeared in the tournament opener. Batter Abdul Samad and pacer Yudhvir Singh are the other two players from J&K who are part of Lucknow Supergiants and Rajasthan Royals, respectively.