Auqib Nabi scripted history on Friday during the Duleep Trophy match between North Zone and East Zone. The right-arm pacer from Jammu and Kashmir ran riot with the ball and claimed four wickets off four balls against East Zone. The 28-year-old was right on the money with a hat-trick on the last three balls of the 53rd over. He got the better of Virat Singh on the fourth ball of the over and then followed it up with Manishi and Mukhtar Hussain’s scalps to complete his hat-trick. With the triple strike, he joined an elusive list and became the third bowler in Duleep Trophy history to claim a hat-trick, joining Kapil Dev (North Zone vs West Zone, 1978-79) and Sairaj Bahutule (West Zone vs East Zone, 2001).
He carried his momentum into the next over, striking with the very first delivery to remove Suraj Sindhu and complete four wickets in as many balls. With that dismissal, he etched his name in history as the first bowler to achieve the feat in the Duleep Trophy.
Hat-tricks in Duleep Trophy history
Kapil Dev – North Zone vs West Zone, 1978
Sairaj Bahutule – West Zone vs East Zone, 2001
Auqib Nabi – North Zone vs East Zone, 2025
Indian bowlers with four wickets in four balls in First-Class cricket
S.S. Saini – Delhi vs Himachal Pradesh, 1988-89
Mohammed Mudhasir – Jammu & Kashmir vs Rajasthan, 2018-19
Kulwant Khejroliya – Madhya Pradesh vs Baroda, 2023-24
Auqib Nabi – North Zone vs East Zone, 2025-26
He went on to dismiss Mohammed Shami to complete his five-wicket haul for just 28 runs.
Meanwhile, the right-arm pacer made his first-class debut for Jammu and Kashmir in 2020, making an instant impression with a spell of 3 for 35 against Karnataka in the quarter-final. Though he went wicketless in the second innings, he stood out as the most economical bowler for his side. In his debut season, Nabi claimed 24 wickets in seven matches at an impressive average of 18.50, including two five-wicket hauls. Meanwhile, it was the last season where he grabbed the limelight, as he grabbed 49 wickets in nine games at a stunning average of 13.08, firmly re-establishing himself.
