Auqib Nabi, with wrist position like Mohammed Shami and outswinger like Dale Steyn, takes J&K on cusp of Ranji Trophy final | Cricket News
4 min readFeb 18, 2026 12:02 AM IST His 83-year-old grandmother, a cricket fanatic in Baramulla, had first patted Auqib Nabi on the back, for landing an IPL stint with Delhi Capitals at last year’s auctions. And then promptly proceeded to tell Jammu & Kashmir’s superbly skilled and consistent pacer, that the highest glory would be to play for the Indian national team. On the cusp of taking J&K into a historic Ranji Trophy final — though they are a good 83 runs away from the target of 126 at 43/2 at Kalyani — Auqib has set his sights on an even higher goal — an India Test spot. Not just donning the white-ball Blues and doing well in the IPL, but the ultimate dream, encouraged by his grandmother, nurtured by his classical-cricket loving teacher-parents, and followed through by the man himself. All cricketing targets have at the outset, always seemed impossible, for the pacer, who took 9 wickets in the semis against Bengal including a 5-87 in 26 long overs in the first innings, …
