Jammu and Kashmir wins maiden Ranji Trophy against Karnataka

For long, Jammu & Kashmir was merely a distant outpost in India’s cricketing map.

On Saturday (February 28, 2026) at the KSCA Rajnagar Stadium here, it moved to the front and centre by winning its maiden Ranji Trophy crown after overcoming eight-time titlist Karnataka. The match was drawn and J& K was adjudged the champion after having secured a humongous 291-run first-innings lead.

J&K is now the 19th different team to have won Indian domestic cricket’s biggest prize, and coming as it does in a decade where hitherto unfancied sides like Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh have established themselves as champion outfits, J & K’s ascension further signals the growing footprint of the game.

J&K had reached the quarterfinals thrice before – in 2013-14, 2019-20 and 2024-25. Last year’s run, unfortunately, had ended in a heart-break when Kerala bagged the semifinal berth by securing a one-run first-innings lead. Saturday was a sweet redemption.

At no point during the five days of action here did J&K display the nervousness and jitters that first-time finalists generally do. The fixture was its third straight knockout tie away from home, and it had lost seasoned opening batter Shubham Khajuria and young all-rounder Vanshaj Sharma to injuries on the eve of the contest.

But the 584 first-innings runs it scored was its highest total this season. Shubham Pundir and Qamran Iqbal — a last-minute replacement for Khajuria — chose the most important match for their maiden centuries this campaign.

And they had the ever reliable pacer Auqib Nabi, who destroyed the famed Karnataka batting order with a sensational first-innings burst (five for 54) that made him the highest wicket-taker this Ranji Trophy with 60 scalps. It comes on the back of the 29-year-old’s 44 wickets in the previous edition, heightening the clamour for National team selection.

Credit should also go to the immensely talented middle-order bat Abdul Samad, who has often not lived up to his promise. He came of age with 748 runs to become the highest run-getter for his team.

The title run also bookends skipper Paras Dogra’s incredible red-ball domestic career. The 41-year-old warhorse, a veteran of 153 First Class matches, is only the second man after Mumbai legend Wasim Jaffer to score more than 10,000 runs in the Ranji Trophy. J&K’s first triumph is his first as well.

Dogra scored 637 runs this Ranji Trophy, with centuries against heavyweights Mumbai and Delhi. The Delhi knock, in fact, led his side to a famous seven-wicket victory, the first of three outright wins away from home for J & K, with the other two coming in the quarterfinal against Madhya Pradesh in Indore (56 runs) and in the semifinals versus Bengal in Kalyani (six wickets).

Ahead of the summit clash, Parvez Rasool, the first from J & K to play for India and the State team’s captain when it featured in the quarters in 2013-14 and 2019-20, had told The Hindu that just the dash to a maiden final would do wonders for cricket back home.

“There was a time when not many knew of J & K cricket,” Rasool said. “So playing the final is a great thing. Winning and losing are part of the game. But playing the final is great. Now a lot of people follow us and the atmosphere is getting more and more conducive for cricket.”

Now, with the ultimate success, it is sure to sky-rocket.