RISING STAR | Sopore’s 9-year-old cricket sensation wins hearts, Tendulkar’s praise

Baramulla, Mar 31: Drawing inspiration from India’s greatest female batter, Mithali Raj, a nine-year-old girl from Sopore has emerged as a new cricketing sensation of Kashmir.

She has taken the internet by storm with her videos, showcasing her cricketing talent on the field.

Sachin Tendulkar, the all-time highest run-scorer with 18426 runs in One Day Internationals and 15921 runs in Test cricket showered his praise for the budding cricketer of Sopore.

Hurmat Irshad Bhat, a class 2nd primary student of Prime Public School Bumai (Zaingeer) developed her interest in cricket after watching female Indian Cricketer, Mithali Raj playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

A few days ago, her video went viral on social media wherein she was seen hitting lofted shots while playing with a team of boys at a local playground.

Her talent is still being discussed on social media with many showering praises on her for her cricketing talent.

One of her viral videos was even re-tweeted by Tendulkar while expressing his joy in seeing children like her enjoying cricket.

“Always good to see young girls playing cricket. Watching videos like these brings a smile to my face,” Tendulkar wrote on his X handle. While Mithali Raj and Shikhar Dhawan are her favourite players, Hurmat is fond of hitting cover drives.

“I have been playing here at this playground for a long time. My favourite shot is the cover drive. I used to come here with my grandfather before, and then I watched Mithali Raj's IPL match, which inspired me a lot,” Hurmat said.

Hurmat is dreaming of her selection in the Indian team and playing a match with Mithali Raj.

“I play with my neighbours and my brother,” she said.

After her video went viral on social media, locals expressed their happiness over the emerging cricketing talent and said that Kashmir has a lot of talent that needs a better platform to perform.

“She plays very well. Her grandfather always used to bring her here. There is a lot of talent here but we lack exposure. We do not have any academies for such talented players,” said Touseef Ahmad, a local.

Hurmat, daughter of a driver, also thanked Sachin Tendulkar who praised the young talent.

“I am very happy that Sachin Sir shared my video. I am thankful to him,” she said.

Hurmat starts her day at the playfield at 8 am and joins her teammates which include Jasim Bhat, Arsalan, Faisal, Faeez, Ikhlaq, and other boys.

“I feel very good while playing with them. I want to become a cricketer but we worry that we do not have proper turf in this playground," she said. The villagers have urged the authorities to upgrade the sports infrastructure for the athletes like Hurmat.