Industry
Death overs: After a century, Kashmir’s batmakers could be run out
Summary
- A cricket bat made in Jammu & Kashmir was used by the UAE’s Junaid Siddique to hit the longest six in the 2022 T20 World Cup. Since then, export demand for bats made in the region has surged. But Kashmir’s bat industry is still on the backfoot. Why?
Anantnag: The thrilling seven-run victory over South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup final at Barbados’ Kensington Oval last month is still fresh in the minds of cricket lovers across India. But, in one corner of the country, while celebrating India’s triumph, the entrepreneurs and workers who make up a niche industry are wishing they had played a larger role in the tournament. Meet the batmakers of Kashmir, who believe it is time for Indian cricketers to set aside their English willows and embrace atmanirbharta. This would not only help them to pile on runs with bats Made in India, but it would also help put the spotlight on the travails of an industry that is on the brink.
Wood from Salix alba caerulea, a species of willow tree that grows in Kashmir, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and the UK, is used to make cricket bats. Even today, Kashmir is the second-largest producer of cricket bats, after the UK.
However, around 400 bat manufacturing units in Jammu & Kashmir, producing over 3 million bats annually, are staring at a bleak future because of the shortage of willow clefts, the raw material used to make cricket bats.
Take the case of Mohammad Yousuf, from Sangam village in Anantnag district, 43 kilometres from Srinagar. After manufacturing cricket bats for 18 years, the entrepreneur says he is set to wind up his manufacturing unit.
“Willow produce is depleting rapidly and is on the verge of going extinct. The dearth of willow clefts has also pushed up prices, making it harder for us to make and sell bats. Bat manufacturers often borrow money, take loans or sell their assets to buy raw material and keep their units running," says Yousuf.
Bridging the current supply-demand gap is not easy because bat manufacturing units require an abundant supply of willow. The problem has arisen because more willow trees are being felled and fewer new ones are being planted. Fawzul Kabiir, a young bat manufacturing entrepreneur, tells Mint that farmers in the Valley are not willing to plant willow trees, as they take 15-20 years to mature. He is the owner of GR8 Sports, which produces bats for international cricketers.
Yousuf, 40, who claims to have 9.75 acres of ancestral land, is also not willing to plant willow to keep his industrial unit running. “Without a second thought, I will plant apple trees across my entire land to get good returns in less time. I prefer growing apple trees to get a crop within three years to waiting for 20 years for a willow tree to mature."
Kabiir, 32, says the local farmers also do not have enough land to grow willow trees and meet the requirements of the industry, which provides a livelihood to around 150,000 craftsmen and workers, 70% of whom are from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar and Jharkhand.
“We require 70,000 willow trees annually to meet the current demand and need to plant lakhs of trees for sustainability. If we do not get adequate raw material in the next couple of years we will have to pack our bags and leave," says Kabiir, whose unit is on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway in Sangam.
Dr Javaid Ahmad Mugloo, professor, division of Agroforestry and Silviculture, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), Kashmir, says that the agricultural university provided farmers 7,000-8,000 willow saplings over five years but the supply could not meet the demand—each manufacturing unit needs 15,000 clefts a year, he says.
The government needs to allocate funds to SKUAST for the generation of willow plants to be distributed to farmers, says Mugloo. “When old and mature trees are felled, new trees are not planted. Huge funding worth crores is required to create willow plant material for bat manufacturing units. Also, the land needs to be identified and demarcated for massive willow plantation." Mugloo adds that willow trees will take at least 12 years to be ready, noting that premature trees have low wood density and are therefore not fit for bat making.
But despite suggestions that it plant willow trees over thousands of acres in Kashmir’s wetlands and river banks to generate annual revenue of around ₹350 crore, the government seems disinterested, according to the industry. “We have repeatedly asked the government to consider allowing sapling plantations in the wetlands and riverbanks so that the industry can survive, but so far our repeated pleas have fallen on deaf ears," says Kabiir.
A senior official at the department of industries and commerce in Kashmir told Mint that the government cannot accede to the plantation demand. He added that the bat-making units are not officially registered with the department.
From Baskets to Bats
The history of Kashmir’s willow bat industry, according to Sir Walter Lawrence, a settlement commissioner of Kashmir, dates back to the 19th century. In his book, The Valley of Kashmir, published in 1895, Lawrence writes that willow grown in Kashmir was not valued and mostly used for timber, fuel and fodder for livestock. “The vir, or willow, grows in every village of Kashmir where there is water or moisture, and its reproduction is very simple. There is an enormous waste of withies every year, as the young wands are cut down for fodder, and after being stripped of their leaves, are burnt for fuel. I have suggested that a Kashmiri should be sent to England to learn the basket industry. There is ample material in the valley to supply the whole of India with excellent baskets and chairs."
According to a study conducted by the faculty of forestry at SKUAST Kashmir, willow was introduced to Kashmir from England by Lawrence and J.C. Mac Donell, a chief forest conservator. Tens of thousands of towering willow trees were introduced to the picturesque region in the early 19th century to maintain the supply of firewood during Kashmir’s harsh winters. A decade later, the willow was used to make bats.
Contradicting the above account, 82-year-old Zareef Ahmad Zareef, a poet from Srinagar revered as an authority on Kashmir’s history, told Mint that both willow and chinar are native to the Valley and are famous for providing shade against the scorching summer heat. “The Britishers took some of the willow plants from the Valley and planted them in England—massive plantation took place for bat manufacturing."
In 1947, when India and Pakistan became independent countries, many workers and craftsmen migrated to Jalandhar and Meerut, where they set up their bat-making units. But they continued to rely on Kashmir for their willow.
Worldwide Demand
Bats are crafted from logs of willow, explains Mushtaq Ahmad Dar, 42, who has been crafting bats in Jammu & Kashmir for the past 25 years. “The bats are sliced from the wood on a vertical bandsaw. The clefts are kept under the sun to reduce moisture, a key factor in the quality of the bat. The clefts are then chiselled, hammered, polished and the handles are finally attached," Dar explains, pointing at sawdust-covered samples in a workshop at his manufacturing unit, Descent Sports. The handle is made from cane wood that comes from Singapore, Malaysia and Andaman Nicobar, he adds.
“I am the father of three children and bat-making is my only source of income. The supply of willow wood is depleting fast and so is our bat-making career. If the government does not do anything the bat industry will perish in the next one to two years," says Dar, worry writ large on his face.
On the highway, piles of wood clefts line the road and bats are stacked in showrooms just outside the manufacturing units, with wall hangings and posters featuring international cricketers such as Virat Kohli, Pervez Rasool, Babar Azam and others.
Yousuf claims that the scarcity of raw materials has drastically hit overall business, forcing him to fire four of his six workers, who have been making bats for decades. “Fifty out of 400 bat manufacturing units are closed due to the shortage of raw material. Currently, a unit holder is only able to produce 600 bats monthly, while the demand is for 5,000."
According to Mohammad Niaz, GR8’s co-owner and production head, bats manufactured in Kashmir are not only of excellent quality but also affordable. “The price of a good quality English willow starts from ₹25,000 and can go up to ₹1,70,000, but the same quality bats produced in Kashmir sell from ₹1,500 to ₹8,000. Around 3 million bats are manufactured in Kashmir annually and are exported to 35 cricket-playing countries," he says.
Mint could not corroborate these figures independently. However, Aditya Mahajan, owner of BDM, a prominent cricket brand in India, told Mint that there are stark differences between English willow and Kashmir willow bats. In particular, he says, there are variations in moisture content, density and overall quality.
“English willow bats range in price from ₹6,000 to ₹1.5 lakh, whereas the finest Kashmir willow bat sells for ₹7,000," says Mahajan. “Professional cricketers predominantly prefer English willow, while Kashmir willow bats find their primary market in India due to their affordability," he adds.
Kabiir says each bat manufactured in his unit is crafted according to the International Cricket Council (ICC) standards. ICC is the global governing body of cricket. He adds that due to production rising to meet increased demand for Kashmiri bats across the world, there was a 30% shortage of willow in 2021, which spiked to 50% in 2022 and 70% in 2023.
“It is a sad reality that cricket is peaking in the world but we are not able to produce enough bats due to supply constraints. In 2004-05, cricket was played in just a few countries but due to the emergence of the T-20 and T-10 formats, the gentlemen’s game is currently played in 165 nations," says Kabiir. ICC, however, has 104 member countries as of today.
A Tale of Woe
Kabiir and his brother Niaz joined the multimillion-dollar cricket bat industry in 2014 after their father passed away. Six months later, heavy floods wreaked havoc in Jammu & Kashmir, forcing the bat industry, the third-largest industry in the union territory after horticulture and tourism, on the back foot.
“My father Abdul Kabiir Dar started the batmaking company in 1970. After his death, I used my skills and education and travelled to almost all the cricket-playing nations and finally succeeded in impressing international cricketers to play with our bats. But now the paucity of raw material will make my unit sick soon," says Kabiir.
There is no problem with demand but the biggest worry is the over-exploitation of willow trees, adds Kabiir, whose company was the first in Kashmir to get certification from the ICC, in 2021.
“If the government fails to do anything, the 102-year-old industry will collapse. Workers who have been crafting bats will be fired, bats will not be produced and the unit holders who have invested huge amounts in the business will have to look for other avenues to earn their bread and butter," warns Kabiir, who also serves as the spokesperson of the Cricket Bat Manufacturers Association of Kashmir.
Raw willow is also smuggled out of Kashmir, mainly to Jalandhar and Meerut, where established batmakers have units. Despite the J&K Willow (Prohibition on Export and Movement) Act, 2000, local bat manufacturers say that 140,000 clefts are smuggled out monthly, leading to severe losses for the industry.
A senior official from the the territory’s forest protection force admits that despite multiple checkpoints the willow is smuggled out. “We have deployed various checkpoints but the smugglers somehow manage to slip through," he says.
Unscheduled power cuts and 12% GST are other challenges the industry is grappling with. “The covid-19 lockdown in 2020 and 2021 was another nail in the coffin," says Yousuf.
Making matters worse, thousands of bats manufactured in Kashmir are exported without any branding or stickers. “Amid lack of raw material, we did not have business exposure on how and where to sell our bats. For decades, we were selling gold for peanuts. Even today, the established bat manufacturers make unbranded bats for other manufacturers," says Yousuf.
If the industry can overcome the shortage of willow, it can go places. And it has already had a taste of what success can bring. A bat manufactured by GR8 was used by the UAE’s Junaid Siddique to hit the longest six in the 2022 T20 World Cup, against Sri Lanka. After that record-breaking 109-metre six, demand for bats made in Kashmir surged worldwide. Even during last year’s 50-over ODI World Cup qualifiers, GR8 bats were used by players from Sri Lanka, West Indies UAE and Oman. But success will mean demand for more bats and therefore, demand for more willow. So, whether it is for atmanirbharta or to meet export demand, Kashmir’s willow problem needs a long-term solution.
