3 min readMar 3, 2026 03:29 PM IST
First published on: Mar 3, 2026 at 03:29 PM IST
Jammu and Kashmir made history last week by winning their first Ranji Trophy title. The final of the premier domestic first class tournament in India was drawn between J&K and the star-studded Karnataka, with the former winning on the basis of their first innings lead. Former India head coach Ravi Shastri said that this was the most heartwarming story to come out last week, putting it above the 2026 T20 World Cup moving into its final stages.
“As the World Cup moves into the business end, with all eyes on the big stage… the most heart-warming story of last week came from elsewhere,” said Shastri in a lengthy post on his X account.
“Jammu & Kashmir lifting the Ranji Trophy for the very first time. Let that sink in. What a journey. What a story. Paras Dogra, Ajay Sharma and this fearless bunch have taken the long road, knocking over heavyweights, game after game, with grit and self-belief. No shortcuts. Just hard cricket and big hearts.
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“That’s the beauty of the #RanjiTrophy. It throws up fairy tales. And this one will be remembered for a long, long time. Massive congratulations to the boys from J&K. You’ve made the entire cricketing fraternity proud. #Cricket”
Jammu and Kashmir took a 477-run lead on Day 4 of the match and lifted it up to 633 at the end of the match. The decisive passage of play was fast bowler Auqib Nabi, the protagonist of the title win and favourite to make it to the Indian Test team, ripped through the much-vaunted Karnataka batting lineup on Day 3.
From the lack of an alternate gameplan to account for Nabi’s infallible lines and devious movement from length, it was amply understood that the Karnataka top five had underestimated the Baramulla craftsman. KL Rahul and Karun Nair froze in the crease, with Nabi taking only one ball to dismantle the rising star R Smaran. Former skipper Mayank Agarwal skimmed through the initial probe with a stark counter, moving forward to the pitch of Nabi’s deliveries. But even his superlative century (160) would be eclipsed by Nabi on the rebound on Friday, when the second new ball brought along a rejuvenated line of attack around the off-stump.
The game had turned into a farce by Saturday noon when Karnataka skipper Devdutt Padikkal popped the ball to Rahul, for the sake of a few thousand Karnataka fans still gathered on the final day. Lotra would storm to his maiden First-Class century before captain Paras Dogra opted to put Karnataka out of their misery after 287 overs of batting across both innings.
Jammu and Kashmir took a 477-run lead on Day 4 of the match and lifted it up to 633 at the end of the match. (PTI Photo) 
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