Mohsin Kamal, the Cricket Romeo

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 • Mar 17, 2018 Subhan Sports Stadium-previously known as College Ground Sopore- is one of the premier stadia in the town. It caters to a huge chunk of aspiring sportspersons who exhibit their skills round the year. Sopore—North Kashmir’s Sopore commonly known as "Apple town of valley" has always been vibrant when it comes to sports activities. The town always buzzes with cricket, football and other games coupled with a tremendous pool of talent in respective sports. The town is supplied with many a ground which play host to sports activities throughout the year. Subhan Sports Stadium-previously known as College Ground Sopore- is one of the premier stadia in the town. It caters to a huge chunk of aspiring sportspersons who exhibit their skills round the year. The stadium infrastructure got a major surge when Jammu and Kashmir State Sports Council allotted an indoor stadium to the ground. Sports lovers thought it would bolster the facil...

Mohsin Kamal • Mar 07, 2018 Kabra Altaf-a multitalented sportswoman from Srinagar- has emerged as a star judo player in the state having many a medal to her name in the short career. It isn’t easy to eke out a career in sports field in Kashmir. More so for aspiring women. Besides always having to deal with societal pressure, a girl trying to create a niche for herself finds it hard to get proper infrastructure and meet true promoters of sports. There aren’t many star attractions in women sport in the valley that upcoming sportswoman would look upto to follow their path. In men’s field, Parvez Rasools and Mehraj ud Din Wadoos have set examples for others  to go their route in their bid to achieve big in the world of sports.   Of late,Sports-traditionally considered men-oriented domain-has seen the rise of some young talent among the girls to set the stage rolling. Kabra Altaf-a multitalented sportswoman from Srinagar- has emerged as a star judo...

Interview • Dec 05, 2017 • Ahmad Omar Banday has emerged as the shining light to be earmarked as one for the future. Jammu and Kashmir’s run in Ranji Trophy 2017-18 was trademark J&K. Fractured with off-field controversies, selection dramas, demoralizing defeats, occasional victory and couple of players exhibiting, every now and then, they belonged to the league. Just one victory, one draw and four massive defeats is J&K’s report card for the summer. As has been case in the past, amidst this no show Ahmad Omar Banday has emerged as the shining light to be earmarked as one for the future. With senior batsmen failing to give respectable performances, Banday-22-just in his second season of senior cricket showed guts and skill to emerge as the highest scorer for J&K. The Srinagar born right-hander notched up 414 punctuated with a hundred and two fifties in six matches with a decent average of 37 to give some comfort to beleaguered fans. Coming into l...

MOHSIN KAMAL (mohsinkamal286@gmail.com) North Kashmir’s district Bandipore which is mostly famous for Education, Politeness and Water is now also generating some great sports personalities. Apart from education, Bandipore has got a great talent in sports too. Recently a seven year old girl from Bandipore has made whole Kashmir proud as she has been selected for Sub Junior Wushu championship which will be held in Uttrakhand from 27th March. Its proud movement for all of us as she became the first girl from Kashmir to be selected for national Wushu championship. It is merely a miracle that a girl of class 3rd achieving such big goal. But it proves that true dedication and hard work can never go in vain. This miracle is largely because of her coach ‘Mr. Faisal Dar’ a well known sports personality of Bandipore who is also the owner of Ali’s Academy of Sports where Tajamul trained. He helped her too much and worked too hard for her, it’s only because of him Tajamul was a...

MOHSIN KAMAL (mohsinkamal286@gmail.com) The only sports stadium of district Bandipore is closed from past six months and the management is completely silent and is taking no action about it. Bandipore youth is very sad and angry about it as they are being completely distracted from sports activities. The stadium which needs to be open for whole year unfortunately remains closed for more than six months every year. It’s really unfortunate that even after having such a beautiful stadium, Bandipore youth is still not able to take any advantage of it. Management keeps it closed without any big reason and they are not questioned about it. Bandipore is way too backwards in sports as compared to other districts of J&K. It’s largely because of less sports activities held in Bandipore and that is because our only stadium remains closed. A sport is a great exercise which keeps us fit both physically and mentally. It’s our humble request to Sher-i-Kashmir management an...