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Jammu and Kashmir created history for the second time in 10 days: won Ranji Trophy in the very first entry of the final

By Samira Vishwas

Hubli, 28 February. Jammu and Kashmir created history for the second time within 10 days with the determined performance of young players and achieved a historic title victory by defeating eight-time former champion Karnataka at home in the very first attempt of the final in the Ranji Trophy competition, a symbol of national cricket’s excellence.

Former champion Karnataka defeated on the basis of first innings lead

It was only on 18th February, when Jammu and Kashmir created history by defeating host West Bengal by six wickets on the fourth day of the second semi-final at the Bengal Cricket Academy Ground in Kalyani and reached the final for the first time in 67 years after its debut in Ranji Trophy. The visiting team led by Paras Dogra maintained the same enthusiasm and spirit here at the KSCA Hubli Cricket Ground and earned the title of champion on the basis of first innings lead in the match which ended in a draw on Saturday.

CM Omar Abdullah also witnessed the historic moment in the stadium.

What could have been a more proud moment for the Jammu and Kashmir team than the fact that on the fifth and final day of the match, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was also present in the stadium to encourage its players and witness this historic achievement. Omar Abdullah had come here only on Friday evening.

PM Modi congratulated the champion team

Apart from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, people from the cricket world and other fields have congratulated Jammu and Kashmir on becoming champion for the first time. PM Modi wrote in his congratulatory message, ‘Congratulations to the Jammu and Kashmir team on winning the Ranji Trophy for the first time! This historic win shows the tremendous patience, discipline and passion of the team. This is a proud moment for the people of Jammu and Kashmir and shows the growing passion and talent for the sport there. Hopefully this success will inspire many young athletes to dream bigger and play more.

Dogra and company maintained their dominance for the entire five days

In fact, Dogra and Company maintained their dominance from the very beginning for the entire five days and ended their campaign on a high note in this session. Batting first, Jammu and Kashmir had scored 584 runs in its first innings, in response to which Karnataka team was restricted to 293 runs in the first session on the fourth day.

Despite huge lead, guests did not make Karnataka follow on

Although Jammu and Kashmir had a strong lead of 291 runs, they decided to bat in the second innings themselves instead of inviting Karnataka to follow-on. On the fifth and final day of the match, when Jammu and Kashmir had reached 342 runs for four wickets in 113 overs in their second innings, both the captains agreed to draw the match. At that time the total lead of Jammu and Kashmir had reached 633 runs.

Kamran and Sahil returned to winning form amid unbeaten century strikes

The heroes of Jammu and Kashmir’s second innings were openers Kamran Iqbal (160 not out, 311 balls, three sixes, 16 fours) and Sahil Lottra (101 not out, 226 balls, three sixes, eight fours), who had made an unbroken partnership of 197 runs for the fourth wicket till the end of the match amidst century hits. Kamran and Sahil took the innings forward with the score of 4-186 in the fourth evening. At that time, Kamran was six runs away from his second first-class century while Sahil was supporting him by scoring 16 runs.

score card

Ultimately, about an hour after lunch, in the total possible 56 overs of play, both the batsmen not only completed their centuries but also increased the score by 156 runs and did not allow the team to suffer any loss. Now it cannot be said with certainty that by then the host team had perhaps lost interest in the match after seeing the impossible target in front. As soon as Sahil completed his first century in first-class cricket, Karnataka captain Devdutt Padikkal’s request to end the match was accepted by his visiting counterpart.

It is noteworthy that the history of Ranji Trophy is 92 years old, but the Jammu and Kashmir team participated in this national tournament for the first time 67 years ago. At one time it was considered a weak team, but now it has proved itself to be a strong team with its skill and determination.

Karnataka team included 5 international cricketers including KL Rahul

Jammu and Kashmir had reached the quarter-finals in the 2013–14, 2019–20 and 2024–25 seasons, but failed to progress further. At present, at no time in the last five days at the KSCA Stadium did it feel as if its players were playing the Ranji Trophy final for the first time. His achievement is also important because he defeated a rival who has international cricketers like KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Padikkal, Karun Nair and Prasidh Krishna.

Pundir ‘player of the match‘ So Aaqib became Nabi ‘Player of the Series‘

While Shubham Pundir, who scored a century (121) in the first innings for Jammu and Kashmir, was declared ‘Player of the Match’, pacer Aaqib Nabi, who scored a total of 245 runs and took the maximum of 60 wickets in the entire season, including five wickets in Karnataka’s first innings, became the ‘Player of the Series’.

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