Meet 20-yr old north Kashmir cricket sensation Basit Dar .

Aatif Qayoom

Basit Dar, a 20-year-old cricketer from north Kashmir’s Pohrupeth belt who is mesmerizing his fans with his skilful batting and aspires to represent his country at the International level.

Basit began playing cricket at the age of 15 when he was in class 10, and his name shot to prominence when he hit his first century at a Baki-aker ground in Rajwar village in the same year.

He began playing with his local team Pohru 11 and has earned the title of “talented Wicket Keeper batsman” this year in north Kashmir. He has also participated in many major tournaments in north Kashmir, including the Angles Trophy Kulgam, Champions Trophy Sopore and several others.

After witnessing the 21-year-old young man’s skilful batting, he began receiving calls from various Kashmir cricket academies to play for their teams. He is currently playing for north Kashmir’s famous cricket Club Victoria Baramulla.

The young batsman has also received sponsorship from some of the valley’s top sports organizations, and he recently won player of the tournament awards at the champions cup in Sopore and the Big Bash Tournament in Baramulla. In the Big Bash Tournament, he scored six consecutive half-centuries, followed by a century in the tournament’s semi-finals.

The young cricketer has worked hard to get to this level, but he has overcome adversity thanks to his family and his coach/elder brother. Dar was always interested in sports, according to his coach Danish Fayaz, and practice and hard work helped him get to this level.

“I am sure the day is not far when he will play for India. I have seen the spark in his eyes,” Danish added. When asked about his family’s support, Basit stated that his family is very supportive and that his father does not miss any of his matches.

My father has complete faith in me that one day I would realize his ambition of playing for India; he has been extremely supportive from the start, and reaching this level would not have been possible without his help.

Dar was the lone cricketer from Kupwara who was picked and afterwards moved to Maharashtra in the under-17 tournament. He was sent to Jammu by the youth services and sports Department in Kupwara in 2016.

He is in his second year of graduation at Government Degree College Handwara, where he is juggling his cricket career with his studies.