Mohsin Kamal, the Cricket Romeo

“Who would you seek motivation from?” “What would keep you up all the time? “Where would you get that energy from? “Why wouldn’t you feel exhausted?” “How would you manage it all?” These are the five Ws and 1H of my life. Every day I wake up, I ask myself these questions. Obviously, not all days are same; days are like the 11 players of a local cricket team– some good, some bad and some just to fill spaces! But no matter how my days unfold, my answers to all these questions remain the same. I might need to pinch myself quite a few times to get up but I make sure once I’m up, I’m ready to roar– just like how James Anderson roars as soon as the new cherry is handed to him. Again, not all pitches are helpful nor are all the batters easy to deal with! Even the roar I make comes back to haunt me! It terrifies me! I feel numb! I feel lost! I feel nothing! But then when I’m about to lose hope, I recall what Ben Stokes did at Headingly and Kusal Parera did at Dublin! “Can my day be tougher th...

England and West Indies clashed in the first post-covid cricket series. Pic: ICC "Main nazar se pee raha huu, ye samaa badal na jaye. Tera aane kii khushi mein, mera dam nikal na jaye." I was singing this Hindi song on the evening of July 8. I am neither a music fan nor romantic; I do not listen to or read poetry, if that is what you got from the couplet.  My happiness owed to Kemar Roach, a West-Indies cricketer, running in to bowl for the first time after the longest break in the international cricket in recent history.  Wreaking havoc across the globe, the novel Coronavirus forced sports enthusiasts to contend with watching highlights. If you wonder why am I talking about a game while the world has bigger problems, let me ask you this: What matters to you the most? I am sure common answers will be parents or friends, or anything you love. And that is it: Love is love, and love is what matters the most. A pandemic, no doubt, offers complications. For me, too, several other ...

MOHSIN KAMAL In this part of the world, whenever the word, “sport” is uttered, we either think of ‘kids’ or ‘fun’. The term sports is considered as a fun element for kids here, while in rest of the world, sport(s) is running parallel with education. When the concept of ‘sport(s)’ emerged, it firstly meant, “an interesting exercise to keep people fit both physically and mentally,” which, however, is no more same. Yes, there is no denying in the fact that playing sport is still the best way to remain fit but now, it has extended to the level of a ‘profession’ as well. Yet, there still are places like ours which haven’t taken up this extension. Keeping sports restricted to a pass time is one of the major reasons that Jammu and Kashmir hasn’t been able to produce enough sports stars. In spite of hurdles barricades, various sportspersons from Jammu and Kashmir have made it to the highest level, which indicates the presence of talent in the state. Most of this talent, though, go...

MOHSIN KAMAL Mere participator’s a year back and now the champions of 2nd division I-League- meet the latest football fame of Jammu and Kashmir, Real Kashmir Football Club. A Srinagar based football club headed by  Shamim Mehraj – a Newspaper owner, recently did something exceptional and unexpected by emerging as the winners of 2nd Division I-League. With this stun, Real Kashmir FC became the first team from Jammu and Kashmir to win the 2nd Division I-League and qualify for the 1st Division. Nicknamed as the  “Leopards of Kashmir” , Real Kashmir was founded just 2 years back in 2016 and has now grown to become one of the premier clubs of the state since then. Despite being among the lesser followed sports in India,  football is one of the major games played in Jammu and Kashmir.  Though, like other games, there is  no proper infrastructure  as the state has only one top level ground that too is hit by the lack of facilities. The long and ...

MOHSIN KAMAL Soliha started her Rugby career way back in 2008 when the arena of Rugby sport hadn’t taken structure in J&K. Though her hardwork and high amount of dedication lead her through as she never looked back since. She has appeared in as many as nine national outings and been part of various championship winning teams which is no less than a big achievement in itself. Her level of practice kept improving with every new achievement, “After participating in an event, I went back home and worked even more. The thing to go further in sport kept motivating me,” Soliha told The Bridge in an interview In the very same year, when she started Rugby, Soliha made it to the Shield winners team in All India Womens Rugby Championship. “It was something highly cherishi...

MOHSIN KAMAL 'Will work hard to make India comeback' SRINAGAR — The only international cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir , Parvez Rasool received the Lala Amarnath award for the best all-rounder in Ranji Trophy in the BCCI annual awards which were held today at Bengaluru. Following his trememdous performance in the 2016-17 Ranji season, Parvez Rasool clinched this award for the second time. Previously he was fecilitated with the same award in 2013-14 season. He finished the Ranji Trophy 2016-17 season with 629 runs and 38 wickets, making him a contender for the best all-rounder's award. Parvez Rasool expressed his joy over getting this award,"Firstly, all thanks to Almighty. It's really overwhelming to receive this award for the second time," Parvez Rasool told Kashmir Observer "Awards like these are surely morale boosting and helps you grow as a player," he added Parvez is looking to make a comeback in national side by doing we...