Death overs: After a century, Kashmir’s batmakers could be run out
atmanirbharta. This would not only help them to pile on runs with bats Made in India, but it would also help put the spotlight on the travails of an industry that is on the brink. Wood from Salix alba caerulea, a species of willow tree that grows in Kashmir, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and the UK, is used to make cricket bats.
Even today, Kashmir is the second-largest producer of cricket bats, after the UK. However, around 400 bat manufacturing units in Jammu & Kashmir, producing over 3 million bats annually, are staring at a bleak future because of the shortage of willow clefts, the raw material used to make cricket bats. Take the case of Mohammad Yousuf, from Sangam village in Anantnag district, 43 kilometres from Srinagar.
After manufacturing cricket bats for 18 years, the entrepreneur says he is set to wind up his manufacturing unit. “Willow produce is depleting rapidly and is on the verge of going extinct. The dearth of willow clefts has also pushed up prices, making it harder for us to make and sell bats.
Bat manufacturers often borrow money, take loans or sell their assets to buy raw material and keep their units running," says Yousuf. Bridging the current supply-demand gap is not easy because bat manufacturing units require an abundant supply of willow. The problem has arisen because more willow trees are being felled and fewer new ones are being planted.
Fawzul Kabiir, a young bat manufacturing entrepreneur, tells Mint that farmers in the Valley are not willing to plant willow trees, as they take 15-20 years to mature. He is the owner of GR8 Sports, which produces bats for international cricketers. Yousuf, 40, who claims to have 9.75 acres of ancestral land, is also not willing to plant willow to keep his
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