MUMBAI: “Mithun Manhas’ appointment in the Union Territory’s cricket administration was a gamechanger for J&K cricket,” says the state selection committee chief, Sarabjit Singh, the former Services player.
The results are there to see. In 2021, appointed member of a three-member JKCA sub-committee that was formed after the J&K high court directed BCCI to take over the state unit’s running due to mismanagement, Manhas’ emphasis on a professional set-up and better facilities helped improve the performances of the teams. Last season, J&K reached the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals, and on Saturday as BCCI president Manhas he had the honour of handing over the trophy to skipper Paras Dogra.
It is a story of relentless pursuit, of overcoming the odds. Building infrastructure will take time but what could be provided in his four-year tenure Manhas did, after convincing BCCI for funding.
“The first day I went to the JKCA office (June, 2021), Umran Malik had come. He was looking for cricket balls, he had already played for India. I asked why he is not been given the balls? We got the office opened and provided him the balls to practice,” recollected Manhas, the former Delhi batter.
“There was no system in place. That was when I realised there was a lot more to do than what I thought. It was a very confusing state. The season was in front of us, it was June and we couldn’t do much.
“Then I called Jay bhai (Shah, then BCCI secretary). I requested him to come and check for himself. He came to Jammu and saw first-hand the situation,” said Manhas, who scored 9,714 runs in 157 first-class games in a career from 1997-98 to 2016-17.
With BCCI’s financial backing assured, Manhas took steps to improve player performances. A screening process for appointments, be it coaches, physios, trainers, masseurs, analysts, even managers, was put in place. Former players were involved.
“That’s how the journey started. The first season went just like that, we got the process right. What we did was form the CAC (Cricket Advisory Committee) which involved top cricketers of the state, Ashwani Gupta, Abdul Qayoom, Rupali Salathia (women’s representative).”
To compete against top teams, J&K had to prepare like the best teams. Pre-season was going to be important. Next season, 2022-23, the first step was playing the Buchi Babu tournament in Chennai. “I called up Kashi sir (Viswanathan) that we want to play Buchi Babu because all the top state teams were coming there. I am indebted to him because there was no slot available, still he managed to put us in. Then we went for JP Atray Trophy (Chandigarh).
“We started playing all the local tournaments, regular camps started, talent hunt started, we started playing a lot of matches. Earlier, the J&K team was selected from camps, now on match performances.”
The focus was on things like preparing pitches to help players adjust to different surfaces.
“We were playing well in the East and North India, but in West and South, we were lagging behind. We got red-soil wickets made in J&K, I think it is the first in North India. We got the soil from a village on the outskirts of Mumbai. More than the soil, the transportation cost more but we managed to do it. Now, in Jammu we have got a set of 20 wickets in the college ground itself, half of red soil and 11 black soil. In Srinagar also we have done that…red soil is not successful there because of the weather, but we are trying that.”
Earlier, players only used three-four old pitches.”
There are instances of the J&K team being announced on the eve of the first Ranji match. “Now, we announce the team about one month prior to the tournament. We let them play matches, lots of teams come from Punjab, Himachal, central India. They play in Kashmir, Jammu. Now also, our season will start in April.”
J&K players no longer wait for quality balls. “We give them SG Test balls for practice because it is used in Ranji and Kookaburra for white-ball tournaments. SG has been kind to sponsor our team.
