The distance from the tarmac at Hubballi airport to the exit is barely 100 metres. On Tuesday morning, Qamran Iqbal covered the distance as if he were running the final leg of an Olympic relay before diving into a waiting car for a frantic 20-minute ride to the KSCA Stadium.
An opportunity to play in Jammu & Kashmir‘s (J&K) first-ever Ranji Trophy final didn’t seem a distinct possibility even until half-past nine the previous evening. Then, his phone rang and he was asked to pack and leave immediately, because first-choice opener Shubham Khajuria had been injured and ruled out of the match.
He departed from Srinagar at 11.30pm, and landed in Hubballi at 7.35am, following a four-hour layover in Mumbai. When he got to the ground at quarter-past eight, J&K were already warming up. Less than 12 hours earlier, he had been curled up in Srinagar’s two-degree chill. Now, a few hours later, he was padding up in baking early-summer heat to face Prasidh Krishna and company.
When he was dismissed for 6 in the first innings, Iqbal may have wondered if he’d have another shot at glory. It turns out he would, and when the chance came, he grabbed it immediately.
At 32 for 2, Karnataka were making the ball talk after conceding a 291-run lead. Karnataka’s realistic chance was to dismiss J&K cheaply to set up a chase, however steep. Iqbal got a peach from Vidyadhar Patil that left him late, kissing off-stump. Except the stumps didn’t budge, much to the astonishment of the close-in fielders, who then came around to swap the bails for a change of luck.
There was none. Iqbal then battled through a barrage of verbal volleys to finish the day unbeaten on 94, dreaming of not just a second first-class century but a maiden Ranji title.
Perhaps, it was meant to be.
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Iqbal didn’t face the heat alone. Paras Dogra, his captain, was under siege from the get-go. Karnataka had sensed in the first innings that the short ball might be an apparent weakness. Prasidh, Vijaykumar Vyshak and Patil peppered him with lift and hostility.
In an attempt to get under Dogra’s skin again, Karnataka summoned the chirpy KV Aneesh as the substitute fielder. In the first innings, the usually stoic Dogra momentarily lost his cool, charging at Aneesh before head-butting or perhaps helmet-butting him. He ducked, swayed, rode the blows, and even attempted the occasional counterpunch. For nearly 80 minutes, he was immovable.
The scorecard will record only 16 next to his name, to go along with the 166-ball 70 in the first innings. But the 59 deliveries he consumed were worth their weight in gold. On a docile surface that seemed to be taking an afternoon siesta, Karnataka needed early strikes. Dogra denied them that. It took a brute of a delivery from Prasidh to finally dismiss him. By then, a nervy 11 for 2 had become a comfortable 72 for 3.
In 2013, Hubballi was where Dogra made his India A debut, against West Indies A. But one failure, and the doors shut. Thirteen years on, at 42, he stands on the cusp of completing a circle of sorts in the same city, this time as captain, with J&K within touching distance of a maiden Ranji crown.
Perhaps, it was meant to be.
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Like Dogra, one of the half-centurions in the first innings, Abdul Samad, too, had much riding on the second innings. Since his first-class debut in 2019-20, Samad has been a scout’s dream: explosive, gifted, and capable of altering the course of a game in a session. But that same audacity had often left head coach Ajay Sharma exasperated. His shot selection often veered between breathtaking and bewildering.
On Friday, the brief was simple: to simply blunt Karnataka, and Samad delivered. Not even the cushion of a 291-run lead tempted him into recklessness for large parts. Not even when Shreyas Gopal shifted to a negative line outside leg stump.
He batted deep into the final session, absorbing 70 deliveries to score 32 classy runs. Then out of nowhere, a swipe had him walk back. By then the job had largely been done. J&K were out of choppy water, and coach Ajay gave him a pat of approval. The time spent at the crease was gold.
Nearly six years ago to the day, Samad’s dismissal while attempting to take down spin led to his downfall in a tense quarter-final against Karnataka. This was a mellower, a more responsible version of Samad, who has top scored with 748 runs for the team this season.
Perhaps, it was meant to be.
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Long before the batters began their vigil, Sahil Lotra had already cracked the contest open. Like Iqbal, he wasn’t pencilled in to play, but an injury to allrounder Vanshaj Sharma forced a late rethink. Unlike Iqbal, Lotra was already with the squad, though he had spent much of the lead-up confined to a sick bed, nursing a niggle serious enough for J&K to consider calling in reinforcements.
As it turned out, they didn’t need one.
Lotra’s defiance with the bat yielded a priceless 72 in a first-innings total of 546, nudging the game firmly in J&K’s favour. Then came the squeeze. His steady offspin slowly eroded Karnataka’s resistance. When Mayank Agarwal and Kruthik Krishna pieced together a stubborn 79-run sixth-wicket stand over nearly 30 overs, Lotra broke it by slipping in the straighter one that trapped Krishna in front.
An agonising wait followed for J&K as third umpire Virender Sharma pored over at least a dozen replays for close to ten minutes. Some angles hinted at a big inside edge onto the pad; others suggested the spike was of the bat hitting the pad. It could easily have gone the other way. But it didn’t.
Perhaps, it was meant to be.
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And then, Abid Mushtaq.
Last year, his dropped catch led to a heartbreak as Kerala’s last-wicket pair added 81 runs, gaining a one-run lead. It cost J&K a chance of entering their first-ever semi-final. This time, Mushtaq bowled with control and guile, building pressure for the bowlers at the other end to strike.
In 2023, Australia had signed Mushtaq as a net bowler during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to mirror Ravindra Jadeja’s unerring accuracy. In this final, he channelled those very traits – stump-to-stump precision, subtle changes of pace, and an unyielding discipline that allowed J&K to slowly gnaw their way towards control.
Agarwal loves to bash left-arm spin by stepping out. Mushtaq didn’t really allow him too many opportunities due to his guile. He even induced an edge and should’ve had Agarwal on 124. He was denied, and finished wicketless. But his contribution was worth so much more.
Perhaps, it was meant to be.
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And finally, Auqib Nabi.
The man who made the ball talk. The man who tested both edges, with the new ball and the old. He kept charging in despite the heat and the placid surface, knowing this was the final push in a dream season.
Across 92 editions of the Ranji Trophy, only two other pacers – Dodda Ganesh and Jaydev Unadkat – had claimed 60 wickets or more in a single season. On Thursday, Nabi joined that rarefied club, sealing a five-for that decisively swung the 2025-26 title in J&K’s favour.
All that remains now is a formality. The trophy is as good as engraved. It is on its way – to Srinagar, to Baramulla, to Akhnoor, to Poonch, to Pulwama, to Kargil and to Jammu.
Perhaps, it was meant to be.
