Auqib Nabi shaped one at the perfect Test length, getting the ball to move away from the right-handed Hrithik Shokeen late and catching his glove. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)If there was a collection of two deliveries that explained the hype that has built around Auqib Nabi, Jammu and Kashmir’s 27-year-old right-arm quick, on the domestic circuit, it came in the 63rd over of Delhi’s innings during their Ranji Trophy fixture at the Feroz Shah Kotla grounds on Saturday.
After a wicket with the new ball, Nabi returned for a spell and nabbed Anuj Rawat by moving the ball out to catch the edge of the left-hander. In his next over, he shaped one at the perfect Test length, getting the ball to move away from the right-handed Hrithik Shokeen late and catching his glove. On the next one, he bowled a vicious in-swinger – getting the ball to reverse swing when it was older and softer – that crushed the front toe of debutant Manan Bhardwaj.
To get the ball to move both ways so seamlessly, with commendable accuracy in length, has been his hallmark. It allowed him to take 44 wickets last season as J&K reached the quarterfinals. On the back of that, he was picked for the North Zone Duleep Trophy team, where he took a hat-trick against the East Zone and picked up a five-for. He has started this season with a bang, with 24 wickets already to his name.
Auqib Nabi bags his 10th five-wicket haul in two seasons, taking his tally to 75 wickets since the start of the 2024-25 #RanjiTrophy.
— Lalith Kalidas (@lal__kal) November 8, 2025
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His match-winning potential was on display once again after his excellent late burst spurred him to take his third five-for of this Ranji season in just four games. Nabi bowled 16 overs in all, finished with 5 for 35 and played a central role in Delhi being bundled out for a below par 211 on Day 1 in the national capital.
“To bowl both outswing and inswing is something I have worked on a lot these past two years. On a wicket like this, I needed to find something. There was help with the new ball but then it fell flat,” Nabi told reporters here on Saturday.
J&K won the toss on a cool early winter morning in Delhi and chose to field with expectations for the conditions to play similarly flat and slow as the last two games here. But there was more in it on Saturday for the bowlers than usual when the ball was new.
The visitors reduced Delhi to 14/3 before skipper Ayush Badoni, Ayush Doseja and Sumit Mathur hit fifties. But Nabi’s reverse swing abilities quickly skittled Delhi’s lower order. In reply, J&K themselves were left barely hanging on at 31/3 at stumps. Delhi quick Simarjeet Singh castled all three with the new ball.
But to be able to do so when the track falls asleep is where Nabi believes he has the edge. “India has some of the best bowlers: Bumrah, Siraj, Shami. They are the best at bowling on Indian pitches. I often follow them closely and watch their videos to learn how to get wickets on flat pitches,” he said.
The pacer based in Kashmir’s valley, born and raised in Baramulla, has now taken 75 wickets since the start of last season, making him the highest wicket-taker among all fast bowlers in the Ranji Trophy in that period. Yet, he has not seemed to feature in the scheme of things for the national team, failing to get picked for India ‘A’ for the ongoing series against South Africa ‘A’. He has a decent record with the white-ball, too; 42 wickets in 29 List-A games and 28 in 27 T20s for J&K. Yet, despite a few trials, an IPL contract has evaded him.
An asterisk against him is pace; his deliveries stay within the 125-135kmph range, not the kind of speed that will get selectors to immediately take notice. But he doesn’t feel down on his luck.
“If it is not my advantage that I don’t (bowl very fast), it is my advantage that I can get the ball to move both ways. Not everyone can do that,” he quipped.
Brief Scores: Delhi 211 all out in 69 overs (Doseja 65, Badoni 64; Nabi 5/35) lead Jammu and Kashmir 31/3 (Simarjeet 3/14) by 180 runs.
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