Dhoni bats his Jalandhar connection right

[Cover Drive]

Another one;

Labourers working to give shape to bats at the Beat All Sports factory in Jalandhar. — Tribune photo by Pawan Sharma​

BAS. Does the name ring a bell, if it does it is because over the years many international cricketers have been using the bats made by BAS or Beat All Sports, a Jalandhar-based company.

The cricket sensation, Mahinder Singh Dhoni, uses the bats manufactured by the company. The bats came into the cricketer’s life eight years back. Dhoni has even come down to the city twice to get the bats himself. The bat from BAS also apparently proved lucky for him as after making his debut in a match against Bangladesh where he was out for a duck on December 23, 2004, Dhoni scored 148 runs against Pakistan at Vishakhapatnam with his BAS bat.

Dhoni visited the city from Chandigarh, where he was playing home series for the East Zone, to get a bat from the BAS factory unit in the Industrial area here.

He also stayed for a night with the owners of BAS factory, Kohli family, as the bat was being manufactured for him. He took two bats and the next thing we knew, he knocked off the Pakistanis scoring 148 runs with his BAS bat, at Vishakhapatnam.

Now at number one, the cricketer still regards the family of the BAS, says Mr Ramesh Kohli, the eldest of the three brothers. “Dhoni was sent the BAS kit when he came into contact with our Ranchi dealer Paramjit Singh eight years back,” Mr Kohli said. “Since then the cricketer has been using our bats,” he added.

The Kohli family, which came from Sialkot in Pakistan after Partition, began the venture at an investment of Rs 400 or 10 dollars only.

Mr Des Raj and Mr Mulk Raj Kohli, two brothers of the family, had established the factory in 1950, says Mr Ramesh Kohli.

The company’s bats have also been used earlier by the cricket stars like Kapil Dev, Parveen Amre, Krishnamachari Shrikant, Madan Lal, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Ajay Jadeja, Manoj Prabhakar and now by Saurav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh.

The bats are also known as “sixer bats”, as the players using these over the decades have been known for making brilliant sixes on the field with these bats.

Sachin Tendulkar had also visited the factory when he was 15-year-old before making his debut in his international career. He still uses the gloves made by the factory, Mr Kohli claims.

His friend Vinod Kambli has also been a regular user of the bats. Not only the Indian stars, but the players of teams like South Africa, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and New Zealand, also use BAS bats, Mr Kohli claims.

The wood used in the bats is the English willow imported from Britain and the handles are made of cane wood that are imported from Singapore and Malaysia, he says.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060428/jplus.htm#2