It was a team that had spent decades on the fringes of Indian domestic cricket, but on Saturday, when captain Paras Dogra announced the innings at 2:10pm, Jammu and Kashmir were no longer the underdogs. They defeated eight-time winners Karnataka by first innings margin. They were champions, history makers, right on top of their names.
For the first time since its Ranji journey began in 1959, the Union Territory has a title of its own. It is a moment carved out of resilience and an unwavering belief that they belong, despite systemic and infrastructural deficits.
Senior figures in administration and politics were present at Habali – where they witnessed men from the valleys and plains carving out a moment of a lifetime.
Having dominated the match on each of its five days, Qamran Iqbal and Sahil Lutra rounded off the occasion with a memorable 197-run unbeaten stand. Iqbal, who hit 94 overnight, scored a brilliant century for Ranji in the final century – his second first-class hundred – in his 72nd century. Iqbal was dropped but a day after senior batsman and opener Shubham Khajuria was injured, the Srinagar batsman came straight to the ground after his flight. He finished with an unbeaten 160, making his contribution all the sweeter.
As J&K looked to advertise, they buried Karnataka by a massive 584 runs, but not without Sahil Luthra mentioning his century as well. Lotra was replacing the injured Vanchaj Sharma but the all-rounder emerged and how – an unbeaten century in the second innings, 72 in the first and bowling figures of 1/50 in the first innings.
It ended up being a pitiless day for Karnataka – who unfortunately saw the writing on the wall on the penultimate day itself – completely outmatched and overmatched.
“Today, there was a wave in the country that wanted to see Jammu and Kashmir win,” coach Ajay Sharma told the radio. “Even last year, the momentum was great, and we were winning outright. But a one-run miss against Kerala in the quarter-finals last year was a great reminder of small margins. “We thought the loss would haunt us for a long time but it didn’t.”
Aqib Nabi finished as the leading wicket-taker with 60 wickets and a five-wicket haul in the first innings. Abdel Samad finished as the team’s top scorer with 749 points in the season.
