How ‘rollovers’ J&K almost beat Virender Sehwag’s Delhi in 2011

J&K were Ranji’s random team back then. “Rollovers,” Samiullah says. “We did not know we were good even when he kept telling us for two seasons. We had no role models in Kashmir, so we would just participate,” he recalls. Playing in Haryana in the 2011-12 season, J&K had come very close to beating Delhi which had Virender Sehwag, Ashish Nehra and Ishant turning out for them. “We almost won, they needed 10 in the last 2 balls, but we could not kill it,” he says. “But Bedi Sir sowed seeds of confidence. He made us rebels, and instilled so much self belief. He told us not to get bogged down by anyone – selectors, office bearers, critics.”

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‘Ye log jaan thodina le lenge’, Bedi would say. “They have come to watch you play. Don’t care about opponents, Sehwag ho, Virat ho, Gambhir ho. Never be afraid,” he would tell them.

Bishan Singh Bedi’s impact

What Bedi brought in, importantly, was direction to J&K’s ridiculously talented pacers, an old love story between its rugged athletes and the desire to let it rip. “For years before the jinx-breaking 2013-14 season, we have had a zabardast tradition in fast bowling, players who perform in extreme conditions. The biggest competition for spots in J&K was not for openers, wicketkeepers or even hitters, but fast bowlers. We’re naturally well-built, and love to bowl fast. Even in the remotest village corners, you will find bowlers trying to bowl quick with Cosco or tape ball. We are mountain people, it’s inside us. Now it’s Auqib, Yudhvir and Sunil,” Samiullah, originally from Srinagar, says with pride. But Ranji Trophy needed more than flair and furious pace. It needed stamina to not break down.

Bedi had narrated events of two days before a Test after India had lost the previous one at Faisalabad with Imran Khan singlehandedly pulling the win. When his Indian team reached the ground expecting Pakistan to rest up, they saw Imran running laps for two hours till he dropped to the ground. That was the training regimen that J&K initially resisted but slowly bought into when enforced by Bedi.

Jammu & Kashmir cricketers Samiullah Beigh (R) with Ramdayal and Mudasir (L). (PHOTO: Samiullah Beigh/Facebook)

“Bedi Sir could be very harsh when we were careless about fitness. In the third and fourth days of the match, when we were very tired, he would still insist we run. We were the only team that would request umpires to carry on playing because we were better off on the ground than in the dressing room, where if he saw us sitting, he would pack us off to start running,” Samiullah recalls. “That’s how Jammu Kashmir warhorses are built,” he recalled.

Though the doyen parted on sour terms with JKCA right before the 2013-14 season, he always kept in touch with his players, imparting skills, and would invite the team home for lunch after they qualified for knockouts. Though the old Dumbledorean man, who would not allow pessimism of slow progress seep in, knew how to keep the under-confident bunch afloat if not always upbeat. “If we were nearing defeat, he would start cracking jokes when the atmosphere became more tense. He would lighten the load of losses,” he recalls.

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Often he would pull out his old Blackberry and read out the most pertinent messages. “They were inspiring quotes. He taught us that nothing comes easy in life. Today when I see J&K in the Ranji final, I can see why he saw light in us which we never could. He loved this state and wanted us to love cricket and never stop trying,” he says.

The Samiullah-Ram bond outlived their careers because J&K lost that 2013-14 quarterfinal to Punjab, despite the emergence of Parvez Rasool, but Bedi had taught this bunch to never stop at defeat. Ram Dayal, originally from Rajasthan, had settled in Jammu for years, and the duo shared fast bowling tips that helped the team clear the first hurdle. “Against Punjab, we could have won when they were 200/8, and I got Harbhajan to nick a huge edge, but umpiring wasn’t remotely fair and he wasn’t given Out and went on to score 80 odd,” he says. A few LBWs too were not given, and Ram and Samiullah bonded over the bad old day – a destiny jointly denied.

“This J&K team – of batsmen – has proven their mettle, they are capable. Our bowling is damn good. It’s just a matter of believing they are good enough,” he says. While things unfold at Hubbali, Samiullah and Ram will watch keenly, praying for Auqib, Sunil and Yudhvir.