Unable to reach players, J&K cricket turns to TV ticker ads

Pathan said that once the team assembles, the JKCA will take care of their lodging and decide whether the camp and trials should be held in Jammu or in another state.

IN A desperate bid to reach out to domestic cricketers amid the communications clampdown, the J&K Cricket Association (JKCA) has turned to advertisement tickers on local TV channels.

To start with, the association will use these tickers to inform their first-class cricketers, including India international Parvez Rasool, about the pre-season training camp starting in Jammu Friday.

The decision was taken at a meeting in New Delhi attended by J&K team mentor and former India allrounder Irfan Pathan, administrator C K Prasad and JKCA CEO S A H Bukhari.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Bukhari said: “There are two TV channels working in J&K at the moment… Gulistan and ETV. We thought of giving advertisements in newspapers but the problem is we don’t know whether they would reach people across Kashmir. So we thought TV advertisements would be the best medium to inform our players.”

Pathan said the JKCA would give adequate time for the players to join the camp.

“There are many players from whom the association hasn’t heard since the last three weeks… The last time I spoke to Parvez (Rasool) was last week when he had come to Jammu. He had called me and said he had come for training in Jammu but then he left for Kashmir as there was no cricket activity. We haven’t reached him since. We thought about sending people to their places but later decided it was not feasible. So TV was the best medium for us,” he said.

Pathan said that once the team assembles, the JKCA will take care of their lodging and decide whether the camp and trials should be held in Jammu or in another state.

“Let the players come first. We have no clarity on who will turn up after watching our advertisement on television. I’m hoping everyone joins. We might approach corporates or the BCCI to help the state have a selection trial game, maybe in some other state so that the boys can prepare for the domestic season starting next month,” Pathan said.

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