Ladakh Cricketers Can Represent Jammu & Kashmir For Now in Ranji Trophy, Says Vinod Rai

The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (COA) chief Vinod Rai on Tuesday said that the cricketers from the newly-created union territory of Ladakh will represent Jammu and Kashmir in the domestic circuit, for the time being.

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Ladakh players to represent J&K

The Government of India on Monday arbitrarily revoked Article 370 which gave special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The government also broke down the state into two Union Territories – the Jammu and Kashmir division (with a legislature) and Ladakh. But CoA chief Vinod Rai said that they won’t have any separate state bodies as of yet. He also stated that the players from those regions will continue to play for Jammu & Kashmir in the domestic circuit.

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“We are not thinking of having a separate state body for Ladakh as of now. The players from that region will continue to qualify to represent Jammu and Kashmir in all BCCI domestic competitions,” Rai told PTI on Tuesday.

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Meanwhile, no cricketer from Ladakh is known to have played for Jammu & Kashmir in the past. It will be interesting to see if any player features in the Ranji Trophy from that place in the upcoming season. As of now, the future of Jammu & Kashmir cricket is not known as the camps have stopped amidst the growing tension. Asked if Ladakh will become a voting member of the BCCI like Puducherry, Vinod Rai said that there has been no discussion on the matter as of now.

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“Nothing of that sort has been discussed as of now. The arrangement remains the same like it is for Chandigarh which is also a Union territory. Their players either play for Punjab or Haryana in domestic competitions,” Rai concluded.