I want the J&K players to believe in themselves and be confident, claims Irfan Pathan

Despite having encountered innumerous obstacles in their path of late, a valiant Jammu and Kashmir team overcame all odds to emerge triumphant against Rajasthan, that too on their home ground on Friday. 

Having lost to Tripura in a close game in the opening encounter, the squad bounced back in impressive manner to open their account in the latest edition of Vijay Hazare Trophy. While they didn’t even have their strongest squad at their disposal, their opponents boasted of three Men in Blue players in the Chahar brothers and influential spinner Khaleel Ahmed.

“It is fantastic to beat a side with three Indian players. I want the players to believe in themselves and want them to look ahead with confidence. This is just one win and we need consistency,” the team’s mentor Irfan Pathan was quoted saying by Sportstar.

The players were unable to participate in the annual Vizzy trophy owing to the communication blockade placed in the erstwhile state, which forced the cricket association to float an advertisement on local television to help gather players. Once they had aggregated, they travelled to Pathan’s home city of Baroda where they trained in a camp for two weeks ahead of the national tournament.

“Whatever time we have lost is lost. We can’t do anything. But we have to make the best of the situation. I want J&K to start winning and not just compete,” Pathan added.

The win was inspired by several individual masterclasses that integrated into a well combined team effort. While Qamran Iqbal set the stakes with a 60 early on, Shubham Kajuria helped continue the momentum with a  well paced 94 before a quick unbeaten 96 by namesake Shubham Singh Pundir helped them amass a commanding total of 317/5. On the bowling front, they managed to keep taking wickets at regular intervals led by seasoned campaigner Ram Dayal’s four-wicket haul. Skipper Parveez Razool helped keep the run-rate in check to bowlout Rajasthan 55 runs short of their score.

“I keep making sure they are enjoying the time they spend here as much as possible. This is like their second family and I make sure they enjoy each other’s company. We have team-building activities and sometimes we don’t even talk about cricket. I have one-to-one sessions with them regularly because they react to it very well. We make sure we build a team together but at the same time keep working individually. Sometimes I let them come to me and at times I go to them,” Pathan concluded.