Manhas calls for district grounds in J&K as Irani Cup gets underway in Srinagar

Mithun Manhas, the BCCI president, rang the ceremonial bell alongside RoI skipper Rishabh Pant to signal the start of play in the Irani Cup at Sher-I-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar on Thursday, October 1, 2026. He spoke to the media after the opening day's play.

The 49-year-old has longstanding ties to the region: he was born in Jammu, finished his playing career representing J&K for two seasons and began his administrative work with the Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA). Those connections formed the backdrop to his appearance at the Irani Cup opener.

It was during Manhas’ time on the JKCA subcommittee that pace bowler Auqib Nabi began attracting attention. After the opening day’s play, Manhas praised Nabi, saying, “This definitely proves that you could be from anywhere. He is from Baramulla. If you look at his story, it is very inspiring. There are some other players who have not yet come to the forefront, but they have similar stories. If you are talented, hardworking and have passion, you can definitely play for the country,” Manhas told the media on Thursday.

Manhas also drew attention to infrastructure shortfalls in the districts of Jammu and Kashmir. “When I was part of the subcommittee, we used to organise talent hunt programmes. Now, the need of the hour is to go further than that. We need to have grounds there. We used to get the talent to Srinagar or Jammu and then organise camps,” he said.

Since his stint with the JKCA, Manhas has risen to the BCCI presidency, while Nabi’s progression has led to him becoming the third cricketer from J&K to play for India.

Manhas added a timeline for the infrastructure push, saying, “It will take some time, but I think it’s on the right track. Hopefully, the JKCA has chalked out plans on how to make stadiums in Jammu, Kashmir and other adjoining districts as well. You’ll hopefully see that in a year or so,” he said.