In its last four seasons, the Ranji Trophy has hosted seven finalists and four different winners. The revolving door of grinding pursuits has been kinder to Karnataka this year, marking a return to the final after 11 years, and J&K reaching their first in 67 years. But with each passing season, domestic red-ball performers and a Test cap have remained far apart, particularly on the seam-bowling front.
A flat strip will likely play out at the KSCA Stadium in Hubballi on Tuesday, but J&K will continue to back their metronomic pace pack led by Auqib Nabi, who stands on the cusp of a national call-up. With four capped Test batters and a truckload of runs, the flavour of Karnataka’s season, though, is distinctly different from that of first-timers J&K.
Neither captain shied away on the eve of the final. Paras Dogra has spent a quarter of a century awaiting this occasion. The 41-year-old J&K skipper has solemnly ploughed runs in whites since 2001, scaled past 10,000 Ranji runs during last week’s semi-final, and yet believes his fiery seam attack could stun the hosts.
ALSO READ | Ranji Trophy final: How ‘rollovers’ J&K almost beat Virender Sehwag’s Delhi in 2011
“Jo cricket hum khelte hain, wahi khelenge. We have bowlers of good skill levels, and they are a good batting side as well,” Dogra told reporters on Monday.
Karnataka captain Devdutt Padikkal was a year old when Dogra first played First-Class cricket. Now, only four weeks into his first stint as Karnataka’s red-ball captain, the 25-year-old is clear that his well-oiled batting group will hold the key.
“Hubbali has always served good wickets, relatively high-scoring. Hopefully, it will continue this time as well, and the batters will enjoy themselves. We have the experience and know-how to play the big games,” said Padikkal.
There is history to be written for both sides. But on a broader scale, the conclusion of a Ranji season must begin to draw takeaways for the anemic Indian Test set-up. Grappling with multiple transitions, there is also a heightened desperation to find fresh fast-bowling guns.
Nabi’s final frontier
For close to five years, the Test attack has hinged on the twin-cylinder engine of Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah. Siraj has played 45 out of India’s 58 Tests since 2020, with Bumrah making 40 of those despite his brief injury lay-offs. It has also coincided with a sharp pruning of resources.
Jammu and Kashmir’s Auqib Nabi celebrates after the wicket of Bengal’s Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal during the third day of the Ranji Trophy semifinal at Bengal Cricket Academy Ground in Kalyani. (PHOTO: PTI)
India lost a sub-continent machine in Umesh Yadav, showed the door to 105-Test veteran Ishant Sharma and is currently overlooking a fit-again Mohammed Shami’s rigorous comeback bid at 35. Their last out-and-out swing merchant, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, played his final Test in 2018.
A campaign stoked bright by the might of his 55 wickets, J&K will hope their seam talisman Nabi will pass an informal audition this week. Coming up against the likes of India Test opener KL Rahul, Padikkal and the in-form R Smaran on a flat wicket, the 29-year-old Nabi will hope that his nous and restraint will seal the selectors’ nod of approval.
Recent auditions, however, have not been straightforward.
Hype swirling around him after a rip-roaring burst in the previous domestic season with 50 wickets, Haryana pacer Anshul Kamboj’s canter fell flat with an uninspiring initiation against England in Manchester last year.
Of the nine pacers who debuted since 2020, only Siraj and Akash Deep possess respectable Test records. Behind them in the pecking order, Prasidh Krishna, will spearhead the unglamorous Karnataka seam unit that has managed a fair job thus far this season. The gangly Krishna has yet to establish himself in whites, reflecting his limited red-ball profile of 33 games.
Despite operating at strict military-medium pace, Nabi’s bouquet of match-winning spells ensures the spotlight will rest firmly on him from Tuesday. Armed with 151 dismissals in 40 matches, including 106 in 19 since last season, Nabi’s craft — combining movement on and off the surface — has gathered widespread praise.
Yet to earn an India A call-up, Nabi’s potential ascent will also mean increased spotlight on the bristling left-arm pace of Sunil Kumar and the sturdy Yudhvir, who offer interesting options as tryouts for a higher grade.
An outswinging natural, it has taken Nabi considerable time to hone the ingenuity of the inswinger under the eyes of J&K bowling coach P Krishna Kumar, who has likened his gifted wrist to that of Shami.
The Hubballi flatbed will also probe Nabi’s upskilling from arguably being the best swing bowler going around in the country. Of the eight previous matches they have played here, Karnataka have erected 500-plus scores five times.
“If the pitch is overly flat, then I get movement off the seam as well because my deliveries land on the seam,” Nabi said in a bcci.tv interaction released on match eve.
Perhaps befitting, then, that Nabi and J&K’s ultimate examination rests on a classic paata against the home side’s Test-hardened batting stars.
