The squads for the upcoming Jammu Kashmir Premier League (JKPL), a T20 tournament played in Srinagar, were announced on Saturday by its organising body.
Almost every team is featuring a plethora of players who are currently playing under the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA). Since the association recently asked players to not participate in any tournament that is not organised by JKCA or BCCI, the question here is: then why have the JKPL teams included the JKCA-affiliated players?
Does it mean that JKCA has allowed the players to take part in JKPL? There is no official confirmation about that yet and players themselves are unaware.
KSW reached out to several JKCA players, including Abdul Samad–J&K’s star cricketer who plays for Surnisers Hyderabad in IPL– who all said that they are waiting for JKCA’s directions on whether or not to play this tournament. Samad has been named in Ganishah Cricket Club squad.
“I have no idea yet,” he told KSW when asked if he would be taking part in the second edition of JKPL, adding, “I’m waiting for JKCA’s directions,”
JKPL’s second edition is scheduled to take place from August 16 at Kashmir University but there is a lot of confusion on whether the JKCA-bound players would play or not.
Most of the star JKCA players will be part of J&K’s squad for upcoming Buchi Babu 2023 Invitational Tournament, whose group-stage matches will be played from August 15 to 30.
If J&K team progresses to the semi-finals, then the players would be busy till September 5.
It thus means that most of the star JKCA players named in JKPL team squads won’t actually be able to take part in almost half of the tournament even if JKCA permits them.
Star players like Abdul Samad and others would have added a lot to the event and made fans throng to the ground.
Ideally, with the tournament to be played on a turf wicket and all the proper arrangements in place, JKCA should allow its players to be part of the league. If those who are part of the J&K squad in Buchi Babu tourney won’t be available, at least players who are free should feature in the tournament.
Moreover, a lot of IPL players have also been named in several squads. Some of the top players include RCB duo Anuj Rawat, Shahbaz Ahmed, Punjab Kings pacer Vaibhav Arora and many more.
It will also be interesting to see whether any of these IPL players would really come and play in the tournament.