Manzoor Pandav: All You Need to Know About Kashmir’s “Sixer King” Family Background, Career Stats, IPL

Manzoor Pandav is a well-known cricketer from Kashmir. Known as the “Sixer King” of the valley, he was best known for his six-hitting ability and was the first player from his district to play any professional sport.

Let us take a closer look at Manzoor Dar’s cricket journey in detail.

Early Life

Manzoor Dar was born on 1 November 1993 in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir. Dar was a woodcutter in his hometown and also worked as a part-time watchman to meet the needs of his family. His love for cricket knew no bounds as he would often take time from his busy schedule to play cricket in local fields with his friends.

As he saw potential in his game, Dar started practicing at Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium in Srinagar. Due to financial struggles in his family, he would often have to borrow a pair of shoes from his friends for practice. Being the eldest among 12 siblings, Dar found it challenging to balance between earning the bread and following his cricket dream.

He appeared for the Jammu and Kashmir cricket trials in 2007 held in NIT Hazratbal where impressed the selectors by scoring 71 runs from 23 balls.

His dedication and commitment led to him getting selected for the Jammu and Kashmir team for the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Inter State tournament in 2017.

Career Stats

Manzoor Dar made his Twenty20 debut for Jammu and Kashmir in the 2016–17 Inter-State Twenty-20 Tournament on 30 January 2017. Dar hit some huge sixes in the tournament and earned himself the nickname of ‘sixer man of Kashmir’.

He then featured in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2007 where he impressed with both bat and bowl. Dar also represented North Zone in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament.

Dar played a total of 9 T20 matches for Jammu and Kashmir averaging 30.83 with the bat with a strike rate of 146. He was equally impressive with his bowling picking six wickets with an economy rate of 6.47.

IPL Career

Manzoor Dar was called up for trials in 2017 by the Rajasthan Royals. However, the trials did not go as planned for Dar as he was only given four balls to bowl in the nets.

In the IPL auction of 2018, Dar was bought by Kings XI Punjab. He credited his performances against Punjab in two successive seasons in domestic T20 tournaments in which he took the game away from the opposition which eventually led to him getting signed by Punjab in the IPL.

In the first of those games against Punjab, Dar battered 26 off 14 and went for 17 in his four overs. In the second, he made that career-best 38 and took a wicket.

Despite not playing a game for Kings XI Punjab, Dar made history by becoming the second player from Kashmir to earn an IPL contract.

Read More: Top Cricket Leagues in Kashmir

From not having a pair of shoes to play cricket to earning an IPL contract, Dar’s journey has been nothing short of a fairytale. His story is a motivating factor for thousands of talented youth across the Kashmir Valley.