Suhail Dar
Players of the international Cricketing squad for the United Arab Emirates will play with Kashmiri willow-made bats in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia scheduled from October 16.
Speaking to The Kashmiriyat, Fawzul Kabir, owner of GR8, who has been making immense efforts to promote the Kashmiri bats internationally said that four players of the UAE team will be using Kashmiri bats for the upcoming T20 world cup.
UAE all-rounder Zahoor Khan, Kashif Daud, Junaid Siddique, and Fahad Nawaz will be using the Kashmiri willow, GR8 owner Fawzul Kabeer said.
The cricketers signed the agreement during International Cricket Council (ICC) qualifiers matches played during April-May in Dubai.
“This a huge moment for Kashmiri bats. We are providing the best quality material at lower rates and it can be a good replacement for any high-end bat used by good batsmen around the world. We manufacture our products in consideration of the market demand,” Fawzul Kabir.
He said that the signing will help Kashmiri bats flourish internationally. “The last time Kashmiri bats were used Internationally was last year when two Oman cricketers Bilal Khan and Naseem Khushi used our bats. Following this, the craze for Kashmiri willow sky-rocketed and we received an order for over 1,250,000 bats,” he told The Kashmiriyat. He said that the expectation of the whole industry spiked after the news of our bat being represented on the World’s biggest cricketing stage spread around.
“This is for the first time that Kashmiri bats have reached International players. We hope that the demand will sustain and it will help the industry grow which has been in perils for the past few years. The industry has great potential and it will help reduce unemployment in the region,” he said.
UAE will play its first match against the Netherlands on October, 16, with Sri Lanka on October 18, and against Namibia on October 20.
Other than the four UAE players, Gr8 sports has managed to sign contracts with seven players of Afghanistan who will use Kashmir willow made bats during their upcoming matches, he said.