Jammu and Kashmir made history on Sunday by reaching the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy for the first time with a hard-fought 56-run victory over the Madhya Pradesh cricket team in Indore. Sixty-seven years after their debut in the competition and six years after their last appearance in the knockout stages, the side produced a performance built on grit, resilience and a fast bowler at his best.
The architect was Auqib Nabi breakthrough victory. The seamer returned match figures of 12 for 110, dismantling the Madhya Pradesh batting line-up in both innings and ensuring that every time the game drifted, it was firmly pulled back in Jammu and Kashmir’s favour. His first-innings seven-wicket haul of 7 for 40 proved particularly decisive as it gave his side a slim but crucial 42-run lead after being bowled out for 194.
That advantage looked fragile when Madhya Pradesh struck back in the second innings. Jammu and Kashmir were reduced to 73 for 5 and the momentum shifted again. But the lower order match changed the course of the match. Abid Mushtaq made 41 and Vanshraj Sharma played a composed unbeaten 54 to take the total forward. More importantly, a 65-run partnership between Sunil Kumar and Yudhvir Singh for the last wicket stretched the lead to a point where the target was no longer straightforward. What could have been a sub-250 chase turned into a much tougher test.
Madhya Pradesh resumed the fourth day at 87 for 5, needing 204 more runs. The early dismissal of vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer dealt them a blow but Saransh Jain kept the hope alive with a counter-attack of 64. He found support from Shubham Sharma and Ramveer Gurjar and for a time the match was even.
It was Nabi who broke the resistance. Bowled around the stumps, he produced one that bent sharply to beat Saransh’s defence, a breakthrough that effectively ended the chase. At 211 for 9, the result felt inevitable, although Aryan Pandey and Kuldeep Sen delayed the celebrations with a stubborn 23 runs for the last wicket. Yudhvir eventually bowled Pandey to seal the victory, sparking jubilant scenes among the visiting players.
Nabi’s season continues to go from strength to strength. He is the only sear among the top five wicket takers in this edition and has taken 46 wickets so far, second only to Uttarakhand’s Mayank Mishra with 52. He has taken 97 first-class wickets since the start of the 2024-25 season, underlining his emergence as one of the most consistent on the domestic circuit.
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Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
February 9, 2026