'Bowl without worrying': Nabi reflects on his stellar Ranji season
What's the story
Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler Auqib Nabi has credited his success in the ongoing 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season to a "positive mindset instead of thinking about the results." The pacer took three wickets on day three of the final against Karnataka, helping his side take a massive 364-run lead. This performance is part of Nabi's stellar run in first-class cricket since the 2024-25 season.
Performance stats
Over 100 FC wickets since 2024-25
Since the 2024-25 season, Nabi has taken an impressive 108 wickets at an average of 13.58 in first-class cricket. Out of these, a whopping 58 wickets have come in the current Ranji season alone. This puts him just two wickets away from becoming the highest wicket-taker of this season. "I've worked really hard on my skills with the coaches or even by myself in the nets," Nabi said after day three's play against Karnataka in Hubli.
Game plan
Dismissing India's top players
The final was all about J&K's bowling attack, led by Nabi, taking on Karnataka's seasoned batting line-up. The latter included KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Devdutt Padikkal, and R Smaran—the season's highest run-scorer. Nabi dismissed Rahul and Nair with brilliant deliveries to reduce Karnataka to 57 for 3 before getting Smaran out for a golden duck.
Bowling strategy
Bowl in good areas, says Nabi
Nabi revealed his strategy against Karnataka's batting line-up was to "just bowl in good areas." He said, "The mindset was to bowl without worrying about the batter [I'm bowling at]. So the idea was to do what was possible for me to do." The pacer also emphasized that he had received plenty of messages urging him to dismiss KL Rahul.