Jammu & Kashmir won their maiden Ranji Trophy title with an emphatic win over eight-time champions Karnataka in Hubli on Saturday, February 28.
Jammu & Kashmir win maiden Ranji Trophy title
J&K had entered their first-ever Ranji Trophy final as underdogs against a Karnataka side laden with international stars. But they batted out of their skins to trump the south Indian side on first-innings lead. This is J&K's first title in their 66-year history of Ranji Trophy, having entered the competition in 1959-60.
Batting first, J&K were jolted early in their innings, with Qamran Iqbal falling to Prasidh Krishna in the 11th over with 18 runs on the board. But Yawer Hassan and Shubham Pundir dug deep, adding 139 crucial runs for the second wicket. Yawer’s dismissal for 88 was followed by captain Paras Dogra retiring out following a barrage of short balls from Karnataka pacers.
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Abdul Samad gave able support to Pundir, with the duo ensuring J&K ended day one for the loss of just two wickets and 284 runs on the board. Pundir also completed his fourth first-class hundred in the process. But the duo fell in quick succession on day two, at which point skipper Dogra returned to the crease and added 110 runs with Kanhaiya Wadhawan.
Dogra and Wadhawan scored 70 apiece, while Sahil Lotra became the sixth J&K batter to score over 50 runs in the innings with a 72-run knock. The combined effort saw them post 584 in the innings, before Auqib Nabi took over.
Final, Karnataka vs Jammu and Kashmir
vs
- Ball by ball Over
The prolific pacer dismissed the cream of the Karnataka batting, taking four of their first five wickets to fall. KL Rahul, Karun Nair, and Ravichandran Smaran all fell to him, while he later returned to dismiss Mayank Agarwal as well, who was the only saving grace for Karnataka with a 160-run knock.
Shikhar Shetty became his fifth victim as Nabi finished with figures of 5-54, his seventh five-wicket haul of the season, taking him past Mayank Mishra at the top of the wicket-takers list with 60 scalps.
J&K then came up with yet another spirited batting effort in their second innings as Qamran Iqbal scored his second FC ton. Lotra followed up a first-innings half-century with a second-innings ton, his first in FC cricket. Shortly after Lotra completed his century, Dogra declared their innings for 342-4, and the two captains decided to shake hands on a draw.
Their win means the Ranji Trophy has now had five different winning teams in the last five seasons. Nabi was also named Player of the Season, for his 60 wickets. With 44 scalps in 2024-25, the 29-year-old now has 104 in the last two seasons.
Image courtesy: BCCI Domestic/X
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