Srinagar: The second Bijbehara Premier League (BPL) T20 tournament attracted prominent cricketers from outside of J&K despite the J&K Cricket Association’s (JKCA) prohibition on unapproved events.
At the Higher Secondary Ground Bijbehara in the Anantnag district, more than 20 players from outside of J&K are taking part in the current BPL.
In contrast to most of the competitions in Kashmir, BPL is played on a turf wicket. The league began on July 3rd.
Twenty teams are fighting for the championship in the event, and this year’s competition has only gotten tougher thanks to players from outside of J&K who are mentoring Kashmir-based competitors.
Abhishek Sharma, who played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2022, is one of the well-known cricketers competing in the competition.
The event’s organisers claimed that after applying for authorisation with the JKCA and being rejected, they were left with little choice but to proceed with the event, even if it meant leaving out some of the best J&K cricketers.
“We wanted this event to be the top event of the J&K and one of the only T20 leagues to be played on a turf wicket. To make it bigger and better we invited outside cricketers this season and more than 20 are featuring in the league currently. That makes this league unique as no other league in the entire J&K features so many outside cricketers including a current IPL star,” said one of the organisers.
“It would have been even better if JKCA would have allowed top J&K cricketers to be part of the league. But they didn’t respond to our requests and so many top J&K cricketers had to skip it,” the organiser said.
One of the well-known people to back the league is Chairmain of Kanwal Group, Farooq Amin who said that events like this will boost talent in Kashmir.
“The organisers of this event are doing a great job. They have worked hard to prepare a top-quality turf wicket which is being used for the league. Apart from being one of the backers for the event, I also have my own team competing in the league,” Amin said.
“The outside J&K players have added buzz to the event. The players are sharing their experience with our local cricketer which is going to help in the development of our own talent in future,” he added.