Irfan Pathan is excited with the kind of response JKCA cricket tournament is getting

Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan after serving Baroda cricket for over 18 years is now set to start a new journey. He has been contracted by the Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association for the upcoming domestic season 2018-19 as a player cum mentor of the team. Irfan’s role is not just with the cricket he will play on the ground but it has already started.

He is in the valley and touring around various districts attempting to find the hidden cricketing talent in the region. JKCA on its part to make sure more cricketers rise through the ranks has organised the first JKCA cricket tournament and it is played in all the districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

Irfan is impressed

The response they’ve got is mind-blowing in Irfan’s words. After witnessing it first hand, the veteran took to twitter to express his joy. He wrote “First time Jkca has organised a cricket tournament for all the districts in jammu & kashmir and response is mind blowing.”

First time Jkca has organised a cricket tournament for all the districts in jammu & kashmir and response is mind blowing. pic.twitter.com/r4jvSfbvhs

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) June 25, 2018

Here is the data of the number of teams that have participated in the tournament from all the 9 districts of J&K that Irfan shared on his social media profile.

As per the status report of the ongoing JKCA activities across the valley as on 28-05-2018:

1. Anantnag – number of participating teams: 128 | Matches played till date – 42

2. Kulgam – number of participating teams: 64 | Matches played till date – 17

3. Shopian – number of participating teams: 48 | Matches played till date – 11

4. Pulwama – number of participating teams: 48 | Matches played till date – 11

5. Ganderbal – number of participating teams: 80 | Matches played till date – 14

6. Baramulla Pattan – number of participating teams: 104 | Matches played till date – 26

Sopore – number of participating teams: 84 | Matches played till date – 35

7. Kupwara – number of participating teams: 64 | Matches played till date – 25

8. Budgam – number of participating teams: 80 | Matches played till date – 26

9. Bandipora – number of participating teams: 84 | Matches played till date – 17

It is certainly a great sign for the future of J&K cricket and will be interesting to see how the state association manages to refine the talent that comes through now with Irfan and Indian World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev in their ranks.

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