Meet Kashmir's all-girl Rugby team that's grabbing eyeballs on social media

Meet the all-girl rugby team of Kashmir which will be getting trained by the former captain of Sri Lanka's national rugby team Namal Rajapaksa for seven days.

A few Kashmiri girls have picked up an usual sport by defying all odds. Meet the all-girl rugby team of Kashmir. Determined and persistent, these girls practice the sport, usually associated with men, a few times a week.

And now, the team has caught the attention of former captain of Sri Lanka's national rugby team Namal Rajapaksa, who is also the son of former Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. After learning about the team, the Sri Lankan parliamentarian landed up in Srinagar to coach these girls. And the young players are upbeat about it.

Namal is holding a seven-day training camp for these girls as he had promised in tweets a few weeks back after seeing their story on social media "Rugby has a universal language. Sports does not have borders. When I saw these girls want to learn rugby, I thought we should share our knowledge. It is going to be a great experience," Namal told the media. "Sri Lanka has a 100-year-old rugby history. I thought we could be part of J&K rugby."

While Rajapaksa joined active politics in Sri Lanka after quitting rugby in 2014, his love for the game hasn't gone. He was in touch with the Jammu and Kashmir government and planned the visit.

One of the team members Sandeep Kaur told India Today that to think that girls cannot play such sports is "negative mentality". "Girls are beating guys in every sport," she said.

Her teammate Maira says that the state sports association should help the team more so that they can overcome obstacles. Afreen, who has been playing rugby, for the last five years, said, "We overcame all difficulties and continued playing."