The minnows winning Ranji Trophy – the premier domestic cricket tournament. They had been knocking at the doors, in the backdrop of booming guns and bomb blasts and more seriously divided Jammu, and Kashmir regional identities, by reaching the semi-final stage twice in the recent past. But the final accomplishment came in 2026.

It is a big statement on the sporting firmament of Jammu and Kashmir, and on a broader Indian canvas where cricket is a religion of a different variety. The victory has multiple dimensions not only for the demoted, divided and bruised Union Territory but the nation as a whole. This victory in itself has many dimensions – sporting, political, economic and above all social.

All those viewing or reviewing, or relating the historic victory to a mere emergence out of the booming gun culture thereby committing the blunder of ascribing it to only Kashmir, are ignorant of the complexities of Jammu and Kashmir’s multilayered identity crisis. Capping this was Jammu versus Kashmir regional divide which one, being a native and a student of Jammu and Kashmir’s general and political history, can say empathetically with pride, has been dealt a deadly blow by the shining Ranji Trophy. Given the chequered history of JKCA smarting under regional biases and political hegemony, winning Ranji Trophy has set it on a new course.

There were times, this I am saying from my personal experiences, when selection of Ranji Trophy team used to be purely on regional and sometimes on religious lines, with complete domination of one region and favouratism at its peak. Clearly, the sufferers........

© Greater Kashmir