Two kilometres away from town, under the shade of poplar and willow trees, a group of workers are busy cementing the interiors of an indoor stadium expected to be completed by next year.

Sports officials say it will be one of the biggest facilities in south Kashmir to hone the sporting skills of young men and women from its four districts: Pulwama, Anantnag, Kulgam and Shopian.

This will be the nursery to groom raw talent, especially in cricket.

‘’This complex will have all the facilities for players of various games, a 50-room hostel where players can plan camps for two or three weeks,’’ says cricketer Pervaz Rasool, who has represented the Indian team and has a huge fan following across Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

Rasool, who is also associated with the J&K Sports Council, which is building the complex, said the sports body had earlier developed facilities at the Higher Secondary Ground in Bijbhera through local resources and its impact is visible. “Now we have dozens of young talented players representing different events at the national level in cricket. Good infrastructure makes a difference.’’

State-of-the-art facilities

Being built at a cost of Rs 16 crore on 5.5 hectares, the new complex will have, apart from the indoor stadium, a cricket ground of international standards, a football ground, hockey stadium, skating rink, cycle track, modular synthetic basketball court, volleyball and badminton courts.

“Work is underway and we hope that in the next five to six months most of the project will be completed. Because of its size it’s going to take time, what with winter approaching,” says Anantnag deputy commissioner KK Sidha.

As all funds had been released by the government the deadline for the completion of the complex is 2021.

The need for such a facility has been felt as south Kashmir has an abundance of talent, especially in cricket. “Boys as young as 12 or 13 from Bijbhera, Anantnag and other areas of south Kashmir have already played in the Ranji and the Indian Premier League (IPL). This year too one of our boys from south Kashmir is playing in the IPL in Dubai. Pervaz Rasool, who played for the national team, lives a few kilometers away from the sports complex,’’ says Sidha.

Youths forced to go to Srinagar, Jammu

Himself a local from south Kashmir, Sidha stresses on the importance of the complex, saying youths from the area are usually forced to go to Srinagar and Jammu for training. “Once they have a facility, they can train here. Senior players will also get an opportunity to groom the younger ones.’

As cricket has huge potential, Sidha says 12 cricket practice wickets are also being set up in the district from administrative funds to attract the youth towards this game, and “their energy will be channelised towards sports activities.’’

Ishfaq Ahmad, junior engineer with J&K Sports Council, under whose supervision the complex is taking shape, says it will have state-of-the-art facilities. “This is going to benefit 3,000 youths of the entire south Kashmir area. Even players from other parts can come here as we are constructing a big hostel here. The multi-purpose indoor complex is under construction and Rs 4 crore is being spent on it under the prime minister’s development package and it will be completed within two months.”

Locals too are enthused. “This complex will become the training nursery for future players. Many of our talented boys and girls couldn’t excel as they didn’t have any facilities. And if trained coaches are available it could be a game changer and give country future players in various games,’’ says Tasaduq, a sports columnist.