In 2025/26, Jammu & Kashmir became the newest winner of the Ranji Trophy. Here is Wisden’s team of the tournament.
Sanat Sangwan (Delhi)
M: 7 | 828 runs at 69.00, HS: 211*, 100s: 3
After a moderate first season, Sangwan came to his elements in his second, with a double ton and a fifty against Hyderabad and 118 against Mumbai (when no one else reached 40). A Test cap may not be around the corner, but he might have done enough to merit Duleep, Irani, or even India A call-ups.
Aman Mokhade (Vidarbha)
M: 7 | 760 runs at 76.00, HS: 183, 100s: 3 | Ct: 10
If there is indeed a call-up, Mokhade will be among Sangwan’s fiercest competitors for the opening slot. His best streak – 183, 176, 80, 0, 101 not out – came early in the edition, but he never really lost form as he rounded off the season with 21 and 51, and 28 and 83 in his last two games.
R Smaran (Karnataka)
M: 8 | 950 runs at 86.36, HS: 227*, 100s: 4
Had four Test cricketers not occupied the top four spots, Smaran, the next big name in Karnataka cricket, would have got more chances up the order. He hit two unbeaten double hundreds this season (in the space of four innings) and scored a hundred in each innings in the semi-final against Uttarakhand. Already an incredible across-format player, his time will come.
Abdul Samad (Jammu & Kashmir)
M: 10 | 748 runs at 57.53, HS: 125, 100s: 1 | Ct: 12
A close call ahead of Siddhesh Lad and Sudip Kumar Gharami, Samad’s consistency (in 15 innings, he was not dismissed below 15 even once) earned him the nod. There was only one hundred, against Hyderabad, but that came in a match where three of the four innings were below 200. His contributions in the semi-final and final were instrumental.
Ayush Doseja (Delhi)
M: 7 | 949 runs at 105.44, HS: 209, 100s: 4
In his maiden first-class season, Doseja started with a double hundred on debut, hit two hundreds against Chhattisgarh, and finished a run behind Smaran but at a significantly better average. When Ayush Badoni missed Delhi’s last game, against Mumbai, the team management appointed Doseja as captain in his only seventh match: he saved the game with an unbeaten 159.
Kunal Singh Rathore (Rajasthan) – wicketkeeper
M: 5 | 302 runs at 50.33, HS: 102, 100s: 1 | Ct: 27, St: 6
Despite playing only five games, Rathore finished with the second-most dismissals in the season. This included eight against Mumbai and, in the next match, 10 against Hyderabad. But he got the runs as well – 83 in the same Hyderabad match, followed by a hundred against Delhi in the next game.
Shahbaz Ahmed (Bengal)
M: 8 | 434 runs at 39.45, HS: 101, 100s: 1
39 wickets at 16.53, BBI: 7-56, 5WIs: 4, 10WMs: 1
Had there been no Auqib Nabi, Shahbaz would probably have been the Player of the Tournament for his all-round brilliance. Nine wickets against Gujarat, eight against Railways, and 11 against Haryana were supplemented by 40 and 51 not out against Tripura, 86 against Railways, and 101 against Assam, and even 42 and 24 in the semi-final. It was his runs that kept Mayank Mishra out of the playing XI.
Shreyas Gopal (Karnataka)
M: 10 | 469 runs at 33.50, HS: 77
48 wickets at 23.14, BBI: 8-110, 5WIs: 2, 10WMs: 1
Gopal began his stellar season with a half-century and 11 wickets against Saurashtra, and did not look back. Another fifty-and-ten-for came against Chandigarh, but just as impactful were the 77, 33, and two three-fors against Punjab, or the triple-wicket burst that abruptly ended the Mumbai first innings in the quarter-final.
Auqib Nabi (Jammu & Kashmir)
M: 10 | 245 runs at 22.27, HS: 55
60 wickets at 12.56, BBI: 7-24, 7 5WIs, 2 10WMs
When the Ranji Trophy turns a hundred years in less than a decade’s time, there will undoubtedly be books and perhaps documentaries on the journey. Nabi will have his place of pride in these works for his stellar season – one so spectacular that his 44 wickets with six five-fors in the previous edition seems mundane.
The records speak for themselves. Nabi had the seventh-most wickets in a single season and the third-most among seamers; the joint-most five-wicket hauls among seamers in a season; and had five-fors in all three knockout games. But more than anything, he was at the forefront, match after match, as J&K created history by earning their maiden trophy across formats. He might not have played for India A yet – perhaps rightly so – but after two seasons of this quality, the selectors may decide to jump a step for the upcoming Afghanistan Test.
Mohammed Shami (Bengal) – captain
M: 7 | 37 wickets at 16.72, BBI: 8-90, 5WIs: 3
Whether Shami will play for India again remains to be seen, but there is little doubt that he has made a case with an excellent season that peaked with his career-best figures in the format, that too in the semi-final. There were glimpses of the Shami of yore, and the voices demanding his comeback will undoubtedly get louder as the Test season begins. The only Test cricketer in this XI, he also gets to lead the side.
Sunil Kumar (Jammu & Kashmir)
M: 9 | 31 wickets at 15.77, BBI: 5-29, 5WIs: 2
Nabi’s right-hand man for the season was a 28-year-old left-arm seamer who came into this season with one wicketless first-class match under his belt. Sunil started off with 4-32 against Rajasthan, and later in the season, had a burst where he claimed two five-fors in four innings. Across the season, Nabi was the only bowler with more wickets than him at a better average.
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