Jammu and Kashmir's senior team to travel to Vadodara for preparation camp

09/04/2019

With none of the grounds ready in the valley, Jammu and Kashmir cricketers will travel to Vadodara for a preparation camp under the watchful eyes of Irfan Pathan and Milap Mewada ahead of the domestic season starts on September 24. However, the U-16, U-19 and U-23 boys will be training in Jammu.

Ever since the Indian government decided to abrogate Article 370, which granted special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the entire valley is under lockdown and there was no mobile and internet facility in the state. Curfew in most parts of the valley resulted in players not being able to have any information regarding the camps and consequentially, JKCA had put out an advertisement on local television channels, to reach out to the players from Srinagar and the other districts.

However, Sportstar reported that Irfan Pathan stepped in to help as the Jammu and Kashmir cricketers will travel to Vadodara for a preparation camp, which begins from Friday. The Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) has decided to hold a ten-day camp at the Motibaug Stadium.

“The U-16, U-19 and U-23 boys will be training in Jammu, but those facilities aren’t quite suitable for the senior team. So, we have decided to send the boys to Vadodara,” JKCA’s CEO Ashiq Ali Bukhari, told Sportstar.

“The senior team requires certain facilities, and at the moment, things are not quite ready in Jammu, so we had to send them elsewhere in a bid to ensure that they don’t miss out on any further practice,” Bukhari said.

With Vijay Hazare Trophy beginning on September 24, the JKCA have made a few plans to play some practice games in Vadodara and it is also learnt that they have spoken to Parthiv Patel in order to organise a few practice matches for Jammu and Kashmir with the Gujarat team.

“I had personally requested Samarjit Gaekwad for help and he readily agreed to allow us practise at the Motibaug. I am waiting to hear from Parthiv. But we also plan to host a few more matches, so that we are absolutely ready by the time the season begins,” Pathan said.

“We have lost a bit of time, but there is still some time in hand and we are confident of getting things right,” Pathan said.