For the third day running in Hubballi, Auqib Nabi kept doing what he has done all season – run in, hit a good length and let the rest take care of itself. The right-arm quick prised out KL Rahul, Karun Nair and the season’s leading run-scorer R Smaran, leaving Karnataka 57 for 3 and, eventually, 364 runs adrift when stumps were drawn in the Ranji Trophy final.
Across the past two campaigns Nabi has now taken 108 first-class wickets at 13.58. Fifty-eight of those have arrived this season alone, two short of the competition’s top spot. If he finishes there, he will be the first seamer since Jaydev Unadkat (2019-20) to manage the feat.
Asked afterwards what has clicked, Nabi kept it pretty straightforward. “I’ve worked really hard on my skills with the coaches or even by myself in the nets,” he explained. “I’ve also kept a positive mindset instead of thinking about the results. So that has been helpful for me.”
That approach showed in the way he dealt with Karnataka’s marquee names. Rahul fell to a ball that left him just enough, Nair lost his off stump to one that nipped back, and Smaran lasted a single delivery. “I was just bowling in the good channel. That’s what our coach was telling us – just bowl in good areas, that’s it,” Nabi said of the Nair dismissal. “The mindset was to bowl without worrying about the batter [I’m bowling at]. So the idea was to do what was possible for me to do. I had even got a lot of messages saying ‘You need to dismiss KL!’”
Jammu & Kashmir’s attack is more than a one-man show – left-arm quick Sunil Kumar and spinner Abid Mushtaq have chipped in all season – yet Nabi’s knack of striking early gave them the upper hand on Friday.
The simple maths now: J&K are playing their first Ranji final and can claim the trophy with an outright win or merely by securing a first-innings lead should the match drift. That cushion feels a long way off being decisive, but with Nabi holding the new ball and conditions still offering a bit, they would not mind if it is enough.
