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Story by: Syed Sadab Ali Gilani
Players of the UAE national cricket team use bats made from Kashmir willow during today’s T20 World Cup match between the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands. According to Fawzul Kabeer, owner of GR8 Sports, four players of the UAE team are using Kashmir bats in the 2022 T20 World Cup. Among them are all-rounders Zahoor Khan, Kashif Daud, Junaid Siddique and Fahad Nawaz. In addition to the bats, these players will use protective gear made by GR8 Sports.
“The T20 World Cup is the best platform for us to introduce our brand and products to the world. I put a lot of effort into going to several countries where cricket is played and introduced them to the Kashmir Willow Bat, which is a bigger species than the English Willow Cheaper alternatives,” Kabir said.
Kashmiri Willow Bats featured in UAE vs Netherlands match at ICC T20 World Cup 2022 pic.twitter.com/CYiDC0l6ud
— Akash Callard (@cricaakash) October 16, 2022
The cricketers signed their contracts when they participated in the International Cricket Council (ICC) qualifiers in Dubai in April and May this year.
“Bringing our bat to the international stage was not an easy task for us. We put a lot of effort into it and the ICC Cricket Academy has helped us tremendously in achieving our goals. Sher Kashmir University of Agriculture and Technology (SKUAST) is also very supportive to us. The understanding of the variety of willow trees used to make bats has had a major impact,” Kabir said.
In addition to this, he thanked the work of the different artisans involved, while praising their guidance and contributions in efficiently designing and shaping products.
Last year, Fawzul brought new hope to Kashmir’s bat industry as it made its debut at the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup with two Omani players Bilal Khan and Naseem Khushi using the Kashmir Willow bat.
“We expect demand to remain strong and support growth in an industry that has been at risk for some time. The industry has enormous potential and will help reduce unemployment in the region,” Kabir said.
The Kashmir bat industry has a long history, and since then, the valley has produced thousands of bats each year.
“We have taken it to the next level with the help of modern technology, we use Computer Monitored Compression (CMC) to provide precision, accuracy and compression to the bat, a technology only used by our company Said Kabeer.
The UAE’s first game is against the Netherlands today; on October 18 they play Sri Lanka and on October 20 they play Namibia. The Kashmir Willow is considered to be heavier than its British competitor, and therefore functions more durable when used in bats.
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