 "J&K's pace ace Auqib Nabi's time has come for India call-up but there are other heroes of their Ranji triumph as well")
February 28, 2026, day five of the Ranji Trophy final, Hubballi. A team has ground the other into submission. For most of day four and day five, the result feels inevitable. On history and past pedigree, you might be tempted to believe that it is Karnataka calling the shots. And that Jammu & Kashmir have been overcome by the occasion.
But in reality, it is the exact opposite.
J&K did not just win the Ranji Trophy on Saturday. They made a statement. And they made a statement by methodically dismantling one of the more-fabled sides in the Indian domestic circuit, and by illustrating that they would write their own story, and destiny.
Jammu and Kashmir’s heroes
Paras Dogra, who has scored tons and tons of runs in the Ranji Trophy (more than 10000 to be precise), was front and centre. Inspiring his team to newer heights, and injecting belief. Showing that there is nothing quite like grit, and that without guts, there would be no glory.
It also helped that he and J&K had Auqib Nabi, a proper ace in the pace pack, by their side. And though Nabi has been exceptional in campaigns gone by, this was the season he grabbed by the scruff of the neck, telling the nation this was his moment.
His five-wicket haul in the first innings, which included the scalps of KL Rahul, Karun Nair and R Smaran, set the stage for J&K. That each of those three batters were completely flummoxed by Nabi, only highlighted how he has been a class above the rest all season. And why he deserves a national call-up.
With the bat, Abdul Samad played a similar role, turning up when the chips were down. Take the semi-final against Bengal. J&K were behind the eight-ball for much of the contest and yet, cruised to a win, owing to Samad’s brilliance. Samad’s talent has never been in doubt. This Ranji Trophy season, though, has seen him show the maturity his game, at times in the past, seemed to lack.
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This turnaround is evidence of the hard yards Samad has put in. And validation for head coach Ajay Sharma, who dropped Samad last season after a bout of reckless stroke-play, but through his tutelage thereafter, has crafted a redemption arc of his own.
Ajay, for those unaware, was indicted in a match-fixing scandal and was banned for life (which was overturned eventually). And despite averaging close to 68 in First-Class cricket, he only ever played one Test for India. So, to now be coaching a title-winning side, having empowered them – a quality former Delhi teammate Vivek Razdan waxed lyrical about on broadcast - is some effort. That too after a heartbreaking one-run quarter-final defeat in 2024-25.
It was tough for Ajay at the start, having walked into a dressing room where reports of a rift were rife. But having undergone so much, both in life and from a cricketing perspective, Ajay stuck at it. And he ensured his players kept at it. Irrespective of what they were up against.
Sport, anyway, is built on challenges. Designed to throw people into the deep end. Designed to only reward those who dare to swim. And taking on a challenge, as they say, is a lot like riding a horse, where if you are too comfortable, you are perhaps doing it wrong.
J&K’s dream run
Jammu & Kashmir seldom had it smooth, but they came through every single obstacle and challenge that was thrown at them. And at no point were they overawed. Nor did they baulk. They lost their opener at home to Mumbai. They had to play Bengal - who had the most points in the group stage - in an away semi-final, and they had to travel to Hubballi in search of history.
Yet, here they are. Standing atop the pile. Showing they belong. Showing they are now very much among the elite. Showing that the belief that so often defines champions, was part of their psyche long before they actually scaled the summit.
And that is what this campaign will be remembered for. The emergence of unheralded stars. The reinforcing of credentials by cricketers now threatening to make a national mark. A leader now being rewarded with the limelight after hours and hours of slogging in lesser-publicized confines. And a coach, maligned on his patch due to past indiscretions, now finding a home. Both in this J&K side, and at the very top of the Indian domestic red-ball game.
You could search through and through, and you might still struggle to find a fairy tale of this kind. This is now J&K’s story, and it will remain theirs whenever and for as long as the Ranji Trophy is chronicled. And they made it theirs by writing their own chapters. Rather than just waiting to play a part.
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