Auqib Nabi finishes 2025-26 Ranji Trophy as highest wicket-taker: Stats
What's the story
In a historic achievement, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) won their first-ever Ranji Trophy title on Saturday. The underdogs dethroned Karnataka at the KSCA Hubli Cricket Ground, ending a 67-year wait for this prestigious trophy. The match ended in a draw, but J&K was declared champion due to their massive first-innings lead of 291 runs. Star pacer Auqib Nabi Dar was instrumental to J&K's success, having finished the season as the highest wicket-taker. Let's decode his stats.
Match hero
Auqib Nabi named Player of the Series
The Player of the Series award went to none other than Nabi, who put up a show in the final as well. His relentless accuracy and a masterful 5/54 on Day 3 meant Karnataka were folded for 293 while responding to J&K's first innings score of 584/10. Nabi was sensational with the new ball, having dismissed prominent stars KL Rahul, Karun Nair, and R. Smaran early on. Mayank Agarwal's resistance (160) was not enough as he too fell to Nabi.
Season
60 wickets in the season for Nabi
Nabi finished with 60 wickets across 10 games (17 innings) in the season. The pacer went past Uttarakhand's Mayank Mishra's tally of 59 scalps to become the highest wicket-taker. Nabi's average of 12.56 is the best among bowlers with at least 22 scalps. The pacer's tally of seven five-wicket hauls is also the most for any bowler in the season (4W: 2). No other bowler could even manage five fifers.
Knock-outs
Sensational in knock-outs
Nabi was particularly lethal in the knock stage of the season, claiming at least four wickets in each of the five innings. The pacer clocked figures worth 7/40 and 5/70 in the quarter-final clash against Madhya Pradesh. Nabi's 12 /110 in the game are the second-best match figures in the season. In the semi-final, he returned with 5/87 and 4/36 against Bengal.
Career
Here are his FC stats
The semi-final game also saw Nabi complete 150 wickets in First-Class cricket. The pacer has now raced to 156 wickets from 41 matches at a stellar average of 18.37, as per ESPNcricinfo. He now boasts 16 five-wicket hauls in FC cricket. He also owns six four-fers and four match hauls of 10 wickets. The 29-year-old was on a roll in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy as well. He finished as the second-highest wicket-taker with 44 wickets at 13.93.