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Flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir beat 40-time champions Mumbai

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While on the way to Mumbai for their first ever meeting with the biggest Ranji Trophy team Mumbai at the iconic venue Wankhede Stadium, the mere thought of playing them gave the players of Jammu & Kashmir goose bumps.

A win was far from their dream. The only plan was to put their best performance.

What turned out five days later was unbelievable. The Parvez Rasool-led J&K entered created history by defeating the 40-time Ranji Trophy champions by four wickets at their home on Wednesday, in a thrilling tie.

For a team that received their match jerseys on the eve of the game, the battle before their historic cricket battle against Mumbai was tougher.

Already struggling with lack of facilities at home and funds due to the 2012 scam in Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association, the September floods in Kashmir destroyed the dreams of the cricketers. Apart from losing their practice grounds due to heavy floods, some cricketers lost their personal practice kits too.

"Beating Mumbai is a very big thing for us since we did not get the kind of preparation that was required due to floods. Whatever facilities we had had was drowned in water. For one month we could not do any thing but still the boys prepared hard," said skipper Rasool.

Due to the natural disaster the team had to prepare outside their state in Nagpur. "We had a 15-day camp in Nagpur and it turned out very helpful for players. Our coach Sunil Joshi worked very hard with us using his experience," he said.

Apart from missing their preparations for the new season some players who were stuck in the floods spent days without food and sleep. However, for someone like opener Shubham Khajuria, 18, who was instrumental in J&K's win with a century in the first innings and a half century later, the tough days during flood was an experience.

"It was kind of mental exercise. It made us tougher. Spending several days without food and sleep and then waiting in the long queue at the helipad for helicopter for four hours has only made us tougher and prepared for difficult situations," said Khajuria, a Jammu lad, who had gone to play a tournament in Srinagar during floods.

J&K coach Sunil Joshi, who took over the reins from Bishan Singh Bedi this year, was all praise of his players. "Its the greatest moment for us having gone through a tough period where some cricketers had to battle for life. It is the biggest moment. Some players including Parvez and Ian Dev Singh after being stuck in the floods came back hard to defeat Delhi that had the likes of Sehwag, Gambhir and Nehra," said Joshi.

J&K won't be able to enjoy the home advantage that others will since they will be playing all their matches away. "It's disappointing not to have a home game, but that is what we have to deal with," said Rasool.

Meanwhile, the BCCI is impressed with the way J&K has performed. "We will provide all kind of support that they want," said its general manager game development, Ratnakar Shetty.

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