Srinagar: In a mad dash against time, Kashmiri willow bat makers are doing all they can to meet the increasing demand for cricket bats in anticipation of the upcoming ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
Manufacturers are working around the clock to meet the huge demand created by the highly anticipated competition, which will begin soon.
On October 5, the Afghan national cricket team will start using the famous Kashmir willow bats in the much-anticipated competition hosted by India.
The 31-year-old CEO of GR8 Cricket Bats, Fawzul Kabiir, announced the good news, saying, “Players of Team Afghanistan have our bats in the competition this year. Five Afghan players have used them in the past, at the very least. The fact that these bats are being used in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup speaks much about their reliability and effectiveness.
The spokesman for Kashmir’s cricket bat manufacturers, Fawzul Kabir, noted the increased interest in his industry as a result of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) endorsement of Kashmiri willow bats for use in international competition.
It took us until 2021 to gain national and worldwide prominence, despite the fact that we’ve been making cricket bats for the last 102 years. Kabir said, “After receiving the ICC’s approval, our bats appeared in various international tournaments, and demand increased dramatically.”
Kabir stressed that Kashmir supplies a massive 80% of the world’s need for cricket bats.
He said, “The demand has increased enormously with the World Cup around the corner and being hosted by India. Every year, we produce around three million bats, but the demand this and last month was fifteen times higher. In only two months, we produced and sent three to four million bats.
Kabir said, “From ‘zero exports’ until 2021, more than 1.85 lakh bats from Kashmir have been exported to various countries,” highlighting the worldwide effect of their exports.
There will be a significant impact on the local economy from the 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. A bat factory worker named Javid Ahmad spoke about how important the World Cup is to his business. The World Cup is always something we look forward to since it doubles the amount of labour we do and the amount of money we make. During these times, we put in long hours since this is how we make our living,” he said.
The lead-up to the World Cup usually sees a three- to fourfold surge in orders from buyers. People who would normally get 1,000 bats are suddenly asking for 3,000 to 4,000, Ahmad said.
As cricket fans throughout the globe prepare for the approaching spectacular, Sangam’s Kashmiri willow bats continue to stand out as a hallmark of quality and longevity. As a great occasion for the Valley and cricket fans everywhere, these legendary bats made their first appearance in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
