At the KSCA Stadium in Hubballi, the Ranji Trophy final debutants Jammu & Kashmir are now tantalisingly close to history. After electing to bat and posting a commanding 584, J&K have bowled out Karnataka for 293, securing a 291-run first-innings lead on Day 4. With Auqib Nabi (5/54) leading the charge with yet another fifer (his seventh of the season), J&K stand on the cusp of history with one hand on the trophy barring a miracle second innings collapse.
If the final stages unfold as expected, this will rank as one of the most significant breakthroughs in the history of the Ranji Trophy. Jammu & Kashmir are the first team from India's Himalayan region to reach a Ranji final, and it hasn't been any fluke, rather a campaign built on sustained performances.
A Stumble That Sparked The Surge
J&K's Ranji Trophy season did not begin smoothly. They opened their group-stage campaign with a 35-run defeat to 42-time record winners Mumbai. However, the Paras Dogra-led side responded by beating three former champions in their group to make it to the knockout stages of the competition.
Rajasthan were defeated by an innings and 41 runs, Delhi were brushed aside by seven wickets, and Hyderabad were overwhelmed by 281 runs. Each of those results signalled growing authority as J&K made it to the quarterfinals for only the fourth time in their 67-year history.
Overcoming The Quarter-Final Hurdle
Having suffered heartbreak on each of their previous three quarterfinal outings, this time J&K carried their impressive early momentum into the knockouts. In the quarter-final against former champions Madhya Pradesh, J&K delivered a 56-run victory headlined by Auqib Nabi's 12-wicket match haul.
Nabi took 7/40 in the first innings of that game to help J&K secure a 42-run lead. He then returned with figures of 5/70 to fire his team into their maiden Ranji Trophy semifinals.
Yudhvir Singh
Photo Credit: PTI
The Kalyani Turnaround: Overturning A First-Innings Deficit
The defining moment of this title-push came in the semifinal at Kalyani. After conceding a first-innings lead to two-time champions Bengal, who boasted the likes of experienced pace duo Mohammed Shami and Akash Deep in their ranks, J&K were staring at elimination.
Historically, overturning a first-innings deficit in a Ranji semi-final has been rare. J&K became only the fourth team in tournament history to win outright after trailing in the first innings, by bundling Bengal out for 99 in the second innings to script one of the competition's most dramatic reversals.
Auqib Nabi: The X-Factor For J&K
At the center of that semifinal win was once again the undisputed backbone of this J&K team, Auqib Nabi. The pacer picked up back-to-back Player of the Match awards in the knockouts with figures of 5/87 in the first innings and followed it up with 4/36 in the second. He also chipped in with a handy score of 42 when batting in the first innings.
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The right-arm quick became the first bowler from Jammu & Kashmir to claim more than 50 wickets in a single Ranji season, combining pace with sustained control through long spells.
His five-wicket haul in the first innings of the ongoing Final against Karnataka has now made him the leading wicket-taker for the season with 60 wickets from 10 matches. What's more impressive is that the next highest wicket-taking pacer on that list is Mohammed Shami with 37 scalps.
Paras Dogra
Photo Credit: PTI
Paras Dogra Leading From The Front
Leadership, too, has underpinned this ascent as 41-year-old Ranji Trophy veteran Paras Dogra has been a pillar that this team has leant on.
During this campaign, Dogra became the fastest player in Ranji Trophy history to reach 10,000 runs, achieving the landmark in just 147 innings, surpassing Wasim Jaffer's long-standing record of 196. With that feat, Dogra also joins the Mumbai legend as the only two players to scale the 10,000-run peak in the tournament.
ALSO READ | Jammu And Kashmir Captain Paras Dogra Becomes Second Batter To Cross 10,000-Run Mark In Ranji Trophy
That career milestone reflects a campaign built on responsibility and consistency by Dogra whose experience has helped tip the scale in pressure situations throughout the season with his calm leadership in tactical phases.
Homegrown Pace, Not Spin, Taking Center Stage
A philosophical shift has defined this side. While previous J&K teams leaned heavily on spin and containment, this iteration has been built around homegrown pace. Auqib Nabi, Yudhvir Singh and Sunil Kumar have provided sustained seam aggression, each capable of operating above 135 kph. Their ability to extract movement and maintain intensity across sessions has altered the team's competitive profile.
It has been that pace trident who accounted for nine wickets against Karnataka in the ongoing Final to secure the important 291-run lead over the eight-time champions. Nabi (5/54), Kumar (2/51) and Singh (2/55) have put their team within reach of their maiden title win.
If the final steps of the match go according to the script, Jammu & Kashmir will not merely have scaled the peak, they will have changed the narrative for an entire region, dragging it out from the fringes and placing it bang in the middle of India's red-ball narrative.
For 67 years, J&K cricket lived in the shadow of the giants. But now they stand on the precipice of domestic immortality, ready to rise and take their place among the sun-kissed peaks.
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