Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association has decided that it will try and communicate with domestic cricketers through advertisement tickers on local television channels, according to a report in The Indian Express.
Last month, close to a hundred cricketers were asked to leave Jammu and Kashmir due to a terror threat. The association claims that it has been difficult to reach out to players ever since curfews were imposed in the state in the wake of the abrogation of Article 370.
In a meeting attended by team mentor and former India cricketer Irfan Pathan, administrator CK Prasad and JKCA CEO SAH Bukhari, it was decided that first-class cricketers, including India international Parvez Rasool, will be informed by advertisement tickers about the pre-season camp starting in Jammu on Friday.
The report quoted Bukhari as saying that the association first considered using newspaper advertisements as a medium to reach out to players, but then decided to go with tickers on television as it would have a wider reach.
“There are many players from whom the association hasn’t heard since the last three weeks,” Pathan was quoted as saying. “The last time I spoke to Parvez (Rasool) was last week when he had come to Jammu. He had called me and said he had come for training in Jammu but then he left for Kashmir as there was no cricket activity. We haven’t reached him since. We thought about sending people to their places but later decided it was not feasible. So TV was the best medium for us.”
Last week, Pathan had stated that the Board of Control for Cricket in India has promised to help JKCA after the team was forced to pull out of the Vizzy Trophy due to the communication clampdown in the state.
“Hopefully, this won’t have an impact in the upcoming season. From what I have spoken with BCCI, they are ready to help in any way. They will help in taking any decision. It is quite possible things may return to normalcy and we may not need to move anywhere else,” said Pathan.