Mumbai: When Auqib Nabi sought out Mohammed Shami for some bowling tips during the Duleep Trophy at the start of the domestic season, both fast bowlers didn’t know they would be facing off again in the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy.
Nabi took the senior bowler’s advice on board, made it a season to remember and tilted the semi-final against Shami’s Bengal in Jammu & Kashmir’s favour with an outstanding effort with the bat and ball.
The 29-year-old’s superb show has helped J&K make the final of BCCI’s blue riband tournament for the first time ever.
In the Duleep Trophy, the North Zone pacer made a brilliant start to the season, with four wickets in four balls, on way to completing a fifer against East Zone to make everyone sit up and take notice.
And he is ending the season on a similar high note. In the quarter-final he had a sensational 12-wicket match haul, single-handedly winning the game for J&K against Madhya Pradesh. Against Bengal, he was pitched directly against Shami. While his idol Shami also prospered with a nine-wicket match haul, Nabi emulated him with a nine-wicket match haul apart from a priceless 42 runs under pressure at No 9.
Last Ranji season, Nabi picked up 44 wickets in eight matches – striking at 30.47, which included six five-fors. He has bettered the tally with 55 wickets in nine games, striking at 28.50, with six five-fors.
A lot of fast bowlers have one good season and then fade away. Having back-to-back blockbuster displays means you belong to a special breed who marry talent with in-depth knowledge of your craft.
“I know my bowling very well, what is my strength, my weakness. Where to bowl, It is going well, I am contributing for my team well,” Nabi told HT in an interview earlier this month.
Nabi hails from Baramulla in Kashmir. It is a region known for natural fast bowling talent. Not everybody gets to hone that talent, but Nabi has worked on his skills, mastered the moving ball. He uses the one-two combination of incoming and outgoing ball from the same spot to deadly effect.
“I would say being natural (talent) means you don’t have to change much. Our bowling coach (P Krishnakumar) brought some technical changes, but he didn’t change my action much. My action and wrist position was quite natural from the start, all the things were naturally good so I didn’t have much problem playing at the higher level.”
Nabi is fascinated by the pace bowlers who could move the ball beautifully. Dale Steyn is his all-time favourite while he watches James Anderson and Shami’s videos a lot too.
“I like Steyn’s bowling a lot, and watched a lot of his videos. James Anderson, Mohd Shami, I watch their videos a lot also. How they bowled in different conditions, different formats.”
A lot of bowlers do well for one season but are not able to maintain it, what will he attribute his consistency to?
“Whichever wicket is there, whether it is flat or helpful, irrespective of batters, my mindset is to hit the good areas and move the ball from there, bowl with patience. It helps a lot if you keep things simple.”
An out and out strike bowler, Nabi’s bowling makes for a great sight – cything through batters’ defence, sending the stumps, getting them caught in the slips or embarrassing them with leg before verdicts while shouldering arms.
“Your team has given you the job of taking wickets, you are the lead bowler of the team, your job is to take wickets. That is my mindset. Hit the right areas from where you have a higher chance of taking wickets. That is how I look to bowl, bowl outswing, inswing from the same spot. The key to my success is to be focussed and hit the right areas,” said Nabi whose quality has been noticed by the IPL teams to be bought for a whopping R8.2 crore in the auction.
After his impressive performances in domestic cricket, a good show in the IPL will get him closer to national call up. “Yes IPL is a very big platform, all national selectors are watching it. My main motivation is to do well and in future play for India as well.”
After his match-winning show against Bengal, his state team coach Ajay Sharma declared Nabi is already ready for international cricket.
“Everybody wants to know who Auqib Nabi is? He is not bothered about how many wickets he has taken. Whatever he touches, becomes gold. It’s his hard work. He will play Tests. He will go to England. You can’t stop him now. He is only 29. If he performs in the IPL, sky’s the limit.”
It has been a dream run for J&K and Nabi this season. A good show in the final will be the perfect closing chapter to the fairytale.
