Jalandhar and Meerut occupy pole position as suppliers of the all-important gear for marquee events: The World Cups, the UEFA Champions League, the Indian Premier League (IPL), to name a few.
If governing bodies of football, cricket and hockey place orders worth billions of rupees, famous, fastidious customers like Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni also rely on the craftsmanship of workers in these industrial hubs to satisfy demands of the shape, weight and the sweet spot of their bats.
But like elsewhere, the Covid-19 lockdown followed by a continuing inertia in the sporting ecosystem have had a seismic effect on the