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Auqib Nabi’s career has been on an upward curve over the past 12 months. The 28-year-old pacer from Jammu & Kashmir took more wickets than any other fast bowler in the 2024/25 Ranji Trophy season — 44 scalps in eight matches — and he has begun the new campaign in the same vein: with a five-for against Mumbai at the Sher-E-Kashmir Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Between these highs, he also impressed in the Duleep Trophy in August, notably claiming four wickets in four balls for North Zone against East Zone in Bengaluru. It was during this competition that India left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh got a glimpse of his North Zone teammate’s skills with the ball for the first time and showered high praise.
Nabi’s five-wicket haul against Mumbai – his tenth in 32 First-Class matches – came after J&K had conceded a 61-run first-innings lead. Among his victims on Friday were Musheer Khan, Ajinkya Rahane, Siddhesh Lad, Sarfaraz Khan and Akash Anand.
“We had conceded the first-innings lead. So, the plan was just to get wickets quickly. We were looking to bowl at the stumps. I just stick to the basics,” he said after the day’s play.
In Nabi’s first 20 matches, he had taken just 46 wickets. What is behind the transformation that has the bowler now believing that he can play for India?
“When you start at First-Class level, you have to do a lot to be successful. I have done that,” he mentioned. “I have worked on my skill and fitness. There have been a lot of changes in my bowling from the time I started. The outswinger was my natural ball. But as I have played more, I have worked on my inswinger and the scrambled-seam delivery. It is a gradual process over the years. Everything came together well last season.”
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Nabi hails from Baramulla, a town in the northwestern part of the Kashmir Valley that is approximately 50 kilometres from Srinagar. Like most kids in these parts, his interest in the game began by playing with a tennis ball.
“A friend told me about U-19 trials taking place in Srinagar when I was 16 or 17 years old. I didn’t even have bowling spikes. I had to take them from my friend,” recalls Nabi, the son of a school teacher. “I didn’t get selected in the trials immediately. I had to give it a couple more times before being picked for the U-19 team.”
With facilities for cricket being virtually non-existent in his home town, Nabi had to routinely commute to J&K’s summer capital to train and play. “There are no proper grounds in Baramulla. You couldn’t bowl with spikes on those grounds. So I had to travel far to pursue the sport at a high level,” he said.
But Nabi has a striking response when asked about these hurdles. “When your goal is to play for India, these things should not be an excuse. If you have to play, you have to go through these things.”
Published on Oct 17, 2025
