By Dr. Mushtaq Rather

Cricket in Kashmir used to mean something simple: a bat, a tape ball, and an open field. Today it means floodlit stadiums, franchise jerseys, and corporate sponsors chasing an audience hungry for spectacle. 

The valley’s private T20 leagues have grown into a genuine commercial phenomenon, complete with auctions, mascots, and social-media hype machines. 

Strip away the production values, though, and a harder story emerges, one about young athletes chasing careers that cannot exist, families losing income they cannot spare, and organizers who have already shown what happens when the money runs out.

Start with the players themselves, because the institutional facts here are unambiguous. 

The Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association, operating under the Board of Control for Cricket in India, has formally declared these local leagues unapproved and unofficial. 

Rule 38 of the JKCA constitution bars registered players, coaches, umpires, and administrators from participating in or supporting them. Violators risk multi-year or lifetime bans and the loss of medical, financial, and institutional benefits. 

The consequence is stark: no player who has come up exclusively through these commercial tournaments has moved into the formal domestic circuit, the Ranji Trophy included. 

A young cricketer who wants to represent the........

© Kashmir Observer