J&K players take field with black armbands

Jammu and Kashmir under-22 team took the field on Thursday with black armbands as a mark of protest against host Karnataka State Cricket Association for non co-operation during their time of need.

Coach Abdul Qayeem said, “The players are wearing black bands to protest the lacklustre attitude of the KSCA towards us when we were in dire need of help.”

It may be noted that two J&K cricketers Parvez Rasool and Mehraj were picked up from the KSCA club house by the Bangalore Police after they allegedly found traces of explosives in Rasool’s kit bag. They were later released due to lack of evidence.

“Our grouse against the KSCA is that we are their guests and when the police picked up our boys, no one from the association accompanied came to see us. Instead, of helping us, they asked us to vacate the club house immediately,” Qayeem said.

The team, however, refused to leave the club house till their team-mates were released. Later, the team shifted to a private hotel and  the two players went straight to the hotel itself.

The KSCA refused to be dragged into the controversy and did not comment on the black band protest.

However, on the players being told to leave the club house, KSCA secretary Brijesh Patel said, “A big match was happening here, the police instructed us to request them to leave the premises, and we acted accordingly. We have nothing against the J&K team.”
The J&K team is now awaiting the report from the forensic lab and going by Thursday’s
developments, the matter is far from over.