Jammu and Kashmir basks in the glory of cricket, tourism
While Jammu and Kashmir are basking in the glory of their success in domestic cricket, the state is also looking forward to a robust revival of its famed tourism industry.
Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority region, is hogging media headlines for the right reasons – cricket and tourism, a key pillar of its economy.
Jammu and Kashmir enter maiden Ranji Trophy final
For the first time in the more than six decades of India's premier domestic cricket competition, the Ranji Trophy, Jammu and Kashmir reached the final on Wednesday (18 February) with a comprehensive victory over Bengal at the latter's home ground.
It was a result that more than made up for the disappointment Jammu and Kashmir had last year after missing the journey to the final, having lost to Kerala by the smallest of margins – one run – in the semi-final.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
No one could grudge the cricketers from Jammu and Kashmir who rushed to the ground in Kalyani, West Bengal, and broke into an unprecedented show of celebration. It was something that needed to be seen to be believed.
One had thought the semi-final loss against Kerala would continue to haunt Jammu and Kashmir. But it did not. Instead, as Jammu and Kashmir team's head coach Ajay Sharma said, the defeat against Kerala had made the players more determined to put that behind them.
There was a point during the match against Bengal when not many gave Jammu and Kashmir a chance. They were 146/5 in reply to Bengal's first innings total of 328, facing a Bengal bowling line-up that included India's international Mohammed Shami.
But Jammu and Kashmir held their nerves. From 146/5, they made their way to 302.
The first-innings deficit could have made all the difference in the Ranji Trophy contest.
But the Jammu and Kashmir bowlers had other ideas. They dismissed Bengal for just 99 in the second innings, which left them needing just 126 for victory, which they would clinch on day four.
The performance of the Jammu and Kashmir team is all the more heartening because they raised their level of game in the face of challenging cricket infrastructure back home. Some players had to travel miles to reach a proper ground and pitch for practice.
Ajay Sharma said Mithun Manhas, former Jammu and Kashmir cricket administrator and now president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), had a vision for the team.
Looking for a batting coach, Manhas recruited seasoned middle-order batter Paras Dogra as captain, and it made a whole lot of difference.
Sharma attributed his team's show to self-belief among the players. It was all about "self-belief and hard work," he added.
Jammu and Kashmir's performance in the Ranji Trophy last year and this year is the latest pointer to the winds of change in domestic cricket. Since the Ranji Trophy resumed after the Covid-19 pandemic, new champions of the competition emerged: Madhya Pradesh in 2021-22, Saurashtra in 2022-23 and Vidarbha (2024-25).
If it was Kerala to reach the semi-final for the first time last season, this time it was Jammu and Kashmir.
Tourism revival
If Jammu and Kashmir are basking in the glory of their success in domestic cricket, the state is also looking forward to a robust revival of its famed tourism industry which took a big hit by a devastating terror attack that left 26 people dead in the scenic resort of Pahalgam, dotted by breath-taking lush green undulating meadows in summer of snowy slopes in winter, in April 2025.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced yesterday (19 February) that the government planned to introduce nine new tourist destinations and that the sites closed after the Pahalgam attack were likely to be reopened by May.
Following the Pahalgam attack on 22 April last year, approximately 50 tourist spots were closed to the public. As of now, around 25 of these destinations have been reopened.
Abdullah said his government had worked "step by step" to revive tourism following the Pahalgam incident, at a time when many in the industry believed visitors would not return to the union territory for years.
The chief minister emphasised that attracting first-time visitors to the region was not difficult, but true success lay in ensuring they returned. "Repeat tourism is the real benchmark of a strong and sustainable tourism industry and that is where the government is now focusing on."
Abdullah pointed out that hotels in famous winter spots like Gulmarg and Sonamarg were now operating at full capacity, while Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, was witnessing significant tourist footfall, indicating the revival of the sector.
In 2025, the number of tourists declined as the region recorded 11.1 lakh domestic tourist arrivals and 22,993 foreign tourists, while 4.1 lakh people undertook the Amarnath pilgrimage. Tourism currently contributes about 6.98% to Jammu and Kashmir's gross state domestic product.
