POINT TAKEN
For sixty-seven years, Jammu and Kashmir’s cricketing narrative was one of quiet burdens and unfulfilled promise—a story of immense raw talent and scenic grounds where dreams often dissolved before the final act. Today, that script is rewritten. For the first time in history, J&K steps onto the Ranji Trophy Final stage in Hubballi to face the formidable juggernaut of eight-time winners, Karnataka. This journey is worth its weight in gold. Auqib Nabi’s nine-wicket demolition of Bengal in the semi-finals did more than just secure a win; it announced the arrival of a poised, elite generation. When Vanshaj Sharma launched the winning six, the sound of the bat echoed far beyond the boundary—it shattered nearly seven decades of glass ceilings. Under the steady, veteran hand of captain Paras Dogra, these young men from Jammu’s dusty pitches and Kashmir’s mountain outposts have delivered a masterclass in disciplined ambition. Cricket, uniquely, possesses the alchemy to dissolve the region’s complex fault lines. Politics, geography, and historical divisions find no purchase when the collective pride of a boundary is struck. In this moment, the team represents a unified aspiration that transcends the scoreboard. Regardless of the result over the next five days, J&K’s cricketers have already secured the most vital victory: the definitive proof that talent, when wedded to institutional self-belief, fears no opposition. As they take the field in Hubballi, they do not just carry bats and balls; they carry the heartbeat of a nation within a nation. The long wait is over. A new era has begun. Cheer them home.
