February 28 will always be remembered as a red-letter day for cricket in Jammu and Kashmir. The team that first made its debut in the Ranji Trophy way back in the 1959-60 season has finally got its hands on the biggest domestic competition silverware in India. The team led by Paras Dogra dominated domestic giants Karnataka to win the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 season after securing a first innings lead at the KSCA Cricket Ground in Hubballi on Saturday. The final may have entered Day 5 in Karnataka, but the outcome was decided on the morning session on Day 4 itself after Auqib Nabi’s five-wicket haul helped J&K take a 291-run lead in the first innings. Such was Jammu and Kashmir’s dominance in the final that Karnataka couldn’t win a single session.
The enormity of the fate was such that Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, also flew down to Hubballi on Friday evening to observe the historic day from close quarters. “On our way to Hubli to cheer the J&K cricket team as they play the final of the Ranji Trophy. They’ve already made lakhs of people so very proud of their achievements by reaching the final. I’m really looking forward to spending the day tomorrow in the stands cheering them on,” he wrote on X.
Days before the contest, most people expected Karnataka to come out on top, given the presence of players like KL Rahul, Prasidh Krishna, Mayank Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, and Karun Nair in the playing XI. However, the Ranji final once again proved that matches are not won on paper.
Right from the opening ball, Jammu and Kashmir were on the boil, keeping Karnataka at bay. For starters, Dogra won the crucial toss and decided to bat first on a pitch that was expected to witness wear and tear by the time the 4th and 5th days came by.
J&K posted 584 in the first innings, making Karnataka sweat on the field for almost seven sessions. No.3 batter Shubham Pundir top-scored with a knock of 121, while at the same time, Dogra (70), Yawer Hassan (88), Abdul Samad (61), Kanhaiya Wadhawan (70) and Sahil Lotra (72) all scored half-centuries to help J&K post a formidable total on the board.
The Karnataka bowlers were left rattled as J&K plundered runs at will. There was plenty of needle between the two sides, culminating in an unsavoury incident in which J&K captain Paras Dogra head-butted substitute fielder KV Avneesh. The incident, which Dogra later described as happening in the “heat of the moment”, resulted in the 41-year-old being fined 50 per cent of his match fees.
Auqib Nabi shows his class
There is a saying in cricket, ‘Never judge the pitch unless the two teams have batted on it,’ and J&K pacer Auqib Nabi proved it. The highest wicket-taker of the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 season made the ball talk on a relatively dull pitch, leaving seasoned batters Rahul, Mayank, and Karun all at sea.
He first removed Rahul (13) and then struck on consecutive deliveries to dismiss Nair (0) and Smaran Ravichandran (0), leaving Karnataka reeling at 57/4. Only Mayank Agarwal, the opening batter, showed a stomach for the fight, hammering 160 and helping Karnataka post more than 280 runs on the board.
However, Mayank’s effort was outdone by Nabi, who took his seventh fifer of the Ranji 2025-26 season, taking his total wicket tally to 60 and becoming the highest wicket-taker of the season. He also became the third pacer in the history of the competition to take 60 or more wickets in the season.
J&K bat out Karnataka out of the game
After taking a 291-run lead, J&K were rocked early as Karnataka pacers Prasidh Krishna and Vijaykumar Vyshak removed Yawer Hassan (1) and Pundir (4) before the lunch break. However, Qamran Iqbal held the fort at one end and found support from Samad and Lotra.
On the final day of the contest, Hassan and Lotra struck centuries to ensure that J&K avoided any late hiccups and clinched the Ranji Trophy title. The situation became so one-sided for Karnataka that midway through the opening session, the Devdutt Padikkal-led side withdrew their frontline bowlers, with the likes of Rahul, Nair and Agarwal rolling their arms over.
With the result inevitable, the officials called time on the contest, and the trophy was handed to Dogra and his teammates, sparking jubilant scenes in the J&K camp. Both sides shook hands after J&K declared their second innings at 341/4.
J&K lost just one match during the 2025–26 season – the opener against Mumbai. In the knockouts, they defeated domestic heavyweights Madhya Pradesh and Bengal in the quarter-final and semi-final, respectively, to reach the final.
Brief Scores: Jammu and Kashmir 584 and 342/4d (Q Iqbal 159*, S Lotra 101*; P Krishna 2/42) lead Karnataka (293) by 633 runs.
Result: Match drawn
