Cricket in the snow in Kashmir gaining popularity, claim clubs and cricketers

What is it like playing cricket on a ground covered by three to four feet of snow? Matchless, gushes Ishfaq Aziz Lone from Gurez, 135 kilometres from Srinagar. The lush meadows in winter experience heavy snowfall and playing cricket, he claims, keeps him and others mentally and physically fit.

Snow cricket tournaments are regularly held, he informs, and several hundred spectators turn up to watch the matches and listen to the running commentary amplified on loudspeakers.

Videos of cricket in the snow at Gurez, the cricketers claim, have drawn the attention of several international cricket stars, who have shared the clips on social media.

With a population of around 40,000 people, Gurez was once a major route for infiltration by militants from across the border. Close to the Line of Control, heavy shelling from both sides of the border was part of everyday life, residents recall. But over the last 10 years or so, the LoC has been quiet, they claim.

In winter, Gurez even now gets isolated as heavy snow effectively bring movement to a standstill. Villagers usually stockpile their requirement of firewood to see through the winter. Most villagers work with the army and the police or depend on farming.

But local entrepreneurs have opened guest houses, hotels, home-stays and eateries for winter tourism. Before 1947, they insist, Gurez was a popular tourist destination. “In 1925 Ted and Kermit Roosevelt, sons of the 26th President of the United States, visited Gurez,” proudly claims an old-timer.

Lone, Mohammad Iqbal, another local cricketer, and chairman of a local club, are convinced that winter sports could transform their lives and develop the region. This place has untapped tourism potential and the Government should come forward to encourage winter sports including cricket on the snow, they say.

“Gulmarg is picturesque but do you think Gurez is not,” challenges a resident, Mohammad Amin. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), they hope, would come forward to promote cricket on snow in winter.

(This article was first published in National Herald on Sunday)