NEW DELHI , march 2026 : Jammu and Kashmir scripted an extraordinary tale of resilience in Indian domestic cricket to claim their first-ever Ranji Trophy title by out-batting traditional heavyweights Karnataka on Saturday, capping a glorious season that saw them tackle favourites and fellow upstarts with equal tact and confidence.
The bald facts will tell that Jammu and Kashmir held the eight-time former champions to a draw punctuated by a 291-run first innings lead to lock the crown, an advantage they extended to 633 runs after scoring 342/4 in their second innings on the fifth and final day here.
But over the last five days in Bengaluru at the KSCA Stadium, they hardly resembled first-time final entrants, out-maneuvering a side brimming with India stars with consummate ease.
That Karnataka failed to take a single wicket on the fifth day after J&K resumed from overnight 186 for four will reinforce the dominance of the tourists in the final.
It was a team effort in its truest sense that led the lesser fancied side to the title.
Pacer Auqib Nabi was a towering presence in the final as he has been throughout this season, taking five wickets for the seventh time this season.
Lotra made a fifty and hundred, skipper Paras Dogra, who became the second batter to go past 10,000 Ranji Trophy runs, while Yawer Hassan, Abdul Samad and Kanhaiya Wadhawan made one half-century each.
They are not household names, perhaps, even in their own state. But this humble bunch produced a magnificent joint effort across 10 Ranji matches in the season that would put a blush on Atlas’ face.
After the current season began in silence in Srinagar following a whipping by Mumbai, Jammu and Kashmir’s glorious journey towards the title clash unfurled like a slow-breaking wave.
And nothing encapsulated J&K’s spirit better than the semifinal against Bengal at Kalyani.
Unlike in the final against Karnataka, they were thrown into turmoil after Bengal took the first-innings lead — small yet good enough to serve their purpose.
But Nabi bowled them back to contention, masterminding Bengal’s dismissal for 88 in the second innings. It, perhaps, made the J&K players aware of the awaiting destiny in Hubballi. They embraced it gleefully.
Picture credit social media
