At a time when the Indian Premier League (IPL) fever has gripped the country, Kashmir is desperately waiting for its only representative, 19-year-old medium-pacer Mohammad Mudasir, to play.

When Mudasir was called to join Yuvraj Singh’s King’s XI Punjab, it generated a lot of interest in the Valley. Local newspapers ran his profiles and showered praises on his bowling skills. And when his name didn’t appear in the team’s playing XI, he had to literally swear that he, indeed, had signed a contract with the team. “I am part of the team. I haven’t been called to play as yet but I am hopeful,” Mudasir told The Indian Express.

Mudasir was discovered during a pace hunt conducted by Javagal Srinath and T A Sekar of the MRF pace foundation at Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium, Srinagar in 2006. He represented the J&K under-19 team last season and bagged 35 wickets.

Mudasir has not yet made his debut but IPL has already confused the decades-old cricket loyalties in Kashmir which were always an expression of separatist politics here.

The cricket pitch was, in fact, the first platform for separatist politics. On October, 13, 1983 when West Indies came to play India in Srinagar, the separatists dug the pitch to protest. The police arrested Mushtaq-ul-Islam and Showkat Bakhshi — who later became militant commanders — inside the stadium while Hurriyat leader Shabir Shah too was charge-sheeted.

The separatists would always support any team playing against India, especially Pakistan. Now when Sourav Ganguly plays alongside Shoaib Akhtar or VVS Laxman with Shahid Afridi, the marriage of money, entertainment and cricket have managed to melt the borders.

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