Kashmiri batmakers celebrate ‘historic’ willow bat debut at Cricket World Cup in India

NEW DELHI: When Mehran Khan Kapoor first picked up the Kashmir willow bat and used it to play at the 2022 Gulf Cricket Championship, he was astonished to learn of its strength.  

“The first match I played, I scored some 60 runs and I was surprised. Like every ball when I hit it, it went beyond the boundaries,” Kapoor, who played for the Oman national cricket team in the championship in Qatar last year, told Arab News.  

“It’s better than the English willow.” 

Though the Kashmir bat has had more than a century of manufacturing history in the valley, its branding origins only began to surface in recent years. The region is the only place after Great Britain that makes cricket equipment from willow trees, after it was brought there during British colonial rule.  

The Kashmir willow bat started grabbing attention following the International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup tournament last year, when players from Oman wielded them at the championship held in Qatar and the UAE, showing the strength and compression deemed ideal for a cricket bat.  

“I enjoy playing with the Kashmir willow bat, it has a nice wood and helps me hit hard,” Rafiullah, who also played for the Oman team, told Arab News.  

“The shot gets a new life when hit with the Kashmir willow.”  

As India hosts the Cricket World Cup this year, frenzy over the country’s favorite sport has doubled for many Kashmiris, as they witness their indigenously manufactured willow bat making its debut at the flagship event.  

The ICC Men’s World Cup 2023, which takes place every four years, started on Oct. 5 and will continue until Nov. 19 in various stadiums across India.  

For Rayees Ahmad Dar, who owns Sahid Sports in Kashmir’s Anantnag city, the global