Can cricket industrialise Kashmir?

J&K’s stunning Ranji Trophy win last month should elicit more than just cheers. Can cricket become a new force to industrialise the Union territory where all else has failed? The potential is astonishingly high.

Industrialisation is essential to create jobs and reduce youth alienation there. But conventional attempts through subsidies and public sector investments have achieved little, while breeding corruption and waste.

Kashmir lacks conventional industrial raw materials. It lies in a remote corner of India with no market to its north, west or east. Connections with consumer markets to its south with the rest of India are dismal. Industrialists avoid J&K because of risks of terrorism, wars with Pakistan and political uncertainties.

Yet, Kashmir possesses one natural advantage: it’s the only place in the world, save England, that grows the variety of willow trees needed for cricket bats. English willow is the best in quality. So, English bats are very expensive and unaffordable for the millions of people playing cricket in developing countries. That leaves bulk of the market to India.

Britain’s Gunn & Moore sells bats online for $265. By contrast, bats made from Kashmir willow can be dirt cheap. One........

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