Srinagar: By qualifying for the knockout round of the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day event for the first time ever this year, the J&K senior men’s cricket team made history.
Although J&K’s victory in the prestigious tournament was a team effort, the four players stand out for their outstanding play throughout the competition.
J&K finished second in its group on the points standings after winning five of its final six games. Their lone defeat came at the hands of unbeaten table-toppers Punjab. The impressive campaign came to an end when J&K overcame Kerala in the pre-quarterfinal but fell to Assam in the quarterfinal.
It is especially noteworthy that J&K achieved this success without its two biggest international stars, Umran Malik and Parvez Rasool. Additionally, J&K played its most recent games without Abdul Samad and Sharukh Dar.
While every member of the team made a small contribution here and there, Vivrant Sharma, Shubham Khajuria, Henan Malik, and Abid Mushtaq stand out for their consistent play throughout the competition.
Shubham Khajuria
Veteran batter Shubham Khajuria made an impact after being reinstated after missing the first two matches of the competition due to injury. He let his bat do the talking and finished the event as the J&K’s top run scorer.
Shubham Khajuria, a seasoned batter, amassed 456 runs with an average of 76 in the six games he participated in. Shubham Khajuria is ranked eleventh in the tournament’s list of players with the most runs scored.
Khajuria is ranked 24th on the list of players with the highest average while holding the fourth spot with the most sixes in the competition. He also holds the eighth-most sixes per inning record with eight.
With such consistent performance Shubham has once again established himself as the main batter in the J&K team. His inclusion brought stability to the team at the top. He along with Vivrant , gave the side solid starts which resulted in positive outcomes, helping J&K to reach the quarter-finals.
Vivrant Sharma
The spark that was absent from J&K’s batting came from the left-handed batsman who also bowls leg spin. With both the bat and the ball, the young, gifted all-arounder shone. This time, J&K’s ability to play a variety of roles made a difference and enabled the club to make history.
Vivrant Sharma scored 395 runs at an average of 56.43 in the eight games.
Against Uttrakhand, he scored an unbeaten 154, which was his best score. Vivrant is ranked 13th overall and 18th among all competitors for the Vijay Hazare Trophy in terms of greatest individual score. Vivrant comes in at number 52 on the average list and number 18 with 11 sixes on the most sixes list. With 50 fours throughout the competition, Vivrant is ranked ninth in the list of most fours. Vivrant is ninth with 18 fours in the list of innings with the most fours.
During the group stage, Vivrant also grabbed four wickets for J&K.
Henan Malik
The reliable right-hander from the Jammu district once more showed why he is so well-regarded. He is a proficient batter who is developed specifically for the One Day and Test formats.
Henan Malik scored 312 runs with an average of 52 in the eight games. In the quarterfinal matchup with Assam, he recorded a score of 124. Henan is ranked 36th in the tournament’s list of top scorers. Henan didn’t score a lot in the first few games, but they still made an impact. He has maintained consistency throughout, which is one of the reasons J&K was able to get to the quarterfinals.
Abid Mushtaq
While Vivrant, Khajuria, and Henan performed admirably, Abid Mushtaq has been the driving force behind J&K’s triumph and the player who has produced with both bat and ball in important situations.
This season, the all-around spinner has been on fire.
The all-rounder performed admirably in JKCA events before doing so again in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy competition and the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
In the eight matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Abid Mushtaq scored 133 runs and also took eight wickets.
Other Top Performers
Among other batters, wicketkeeper Fazil Rashid after being below par in the T20 format, shined in the later part of the Vijay Hazare campaign. In the eight matches played, Fazil scored 224 runs with an average of 37. His highest score was 85. He stands at 69th place in the highest scorers list. With three fifties in the tournament, Fazil occupies the 10th position.
In the absence of Umran Malik and Sharukh Dar getting injured bowling mostly revolved around Auqib Nabi and Yudhvir Singh. Auqib Nabi took 13 wickets in eight matches and occupy 17th place in the most wickets column. Yudhvir Singh also ended with 13 wickets from eight matches and occupy 18th place on the most wickets list.
Sharukh Dar took four wickets before missing the last matches due to injury.
Among others who contributed their bit is Sahil Lotra who scored 79 runs and took five wickets. Left-arm pacer Mujtaba Yusuf played four matches and took five wickets. The star player Abdul Samad played match-winning knocks before missing the last matches due to injury. Samad scored 152 runs in four innings. However, skipper Pundir once again was below par in his individual performance scoring only 132 runs in eight matches.