A surprise visit by Sachin Tendulkar and his family to a cricket bat-making unit in south Kashmir has offered hope to the Valley’s famed willow industry, which is battling an alleged attempt to discredit it.

Sachin and his family, who were on their way from Srinagar to Pahalgam, decided to stop at Chersoo in Pulwama to inspect Kashmiri bats at a manufacturing unit.

Accompanied by wife Anjali and daughter Sara, Sachin relished tea and snacks at the workshop owner’s home in a traditional Kashmiri way. The tea was served on dastarkhaan, a tablecloth stretched on the floor.

Mohamad Shaheen Parrey, co-owner of MJ Sports who played host to Sachin, said he checked the quality of the bats and was impressed. “Very good,” Sachin is heard saying in a video, after returning the bat to them.

The Little Master’s visit to the factory came as a godsend to the Valley’s bat manufacturers riled by a business pitch made on willow bats on the reality TV show Shark Tank India.

The Cricket Bat Manufacturers Association of Kashmir (CBMAK) had last month filed a lawsuit against Sony Pictures Networks, the producers of Shark Tank India, and Kashmir-based Tramboo Sports for airing “wrong, falsified and incorrect data” about the industry.

The CBMAK sought an unconditional apology and compensation from the television network after two aspiring entrepreneurs — Saad and Hamad Tramboo of Tramboo Sports — projected themselves as the only Kashmiri willow bat manufacturers on the episode aired on January 30. The start-up business proposal helped them bag a Rs 30-lakh deal.

The Kashmiri bat manufacturers claimed that the two entrepreneurs had indulged in self-projection at the cost of the industry, accusing the show of discrediting them and disseminating wrong information. The participants have denied the allegations.