Jammu & Kashmir script history with maiden Ranji Trophy title

Trophies can be polished additions to a cabinet, or they can promise to alter history. For Jammu & Kashmir, a region with a heavy narrative in India, their maiden Ranji Trophy title is a moment of glory and a clincher of belief.

On Saturday, February 28, at 2:11 PM, the captains shook hands, making official what was expected for over 24 hours: Jammu & Kashmir, with a massive 291-run first-innings lead, were crowned champions of the 91st Ranji Trophy.

Karnataka, on a slow track offering no pace or bounce to pacers and unthreatening for spinners, gave up the fight early on Day 5. They even employed KL Rahul—who last bowled in first-class cricket over a decade ago—to spare their main bowlers further toil on the lifeless surface.

For J&K, it was a formality. Overnight batters Qamran Iqbal and Sahil Lotra piled on runs, each scoring a century as a personal reward, ensuring their bowlers wouldn't have to toil again. Lotra was dropped on 62, but it wouldn't have changed the outcome.

Their title was earned through months of toil: a narrow come-from-behind win against Mumbai in Srinagar, hammering Delhi in Delhi, and beating Madhya Pradesh in Indore and Bengal in Kolkata in the knockouts, before outbatting and outbowling Karnataka in Hubbali.

Records tumbled. Auqib Nabi finished as the season's highest wicket-taker, proving his mettle in varied conditions against international-quality players. The list of contributors was long, including captain Paras Dogra, who moved teams over 24 years, compiling over 10,000 runs before lifting his maiden title.

Brief Scores:
Jammu & Kashmir 584 (Shubham Pundir 121, Yawer Hassan 88; Prasidh Krishna 5-98) & 342/4 (Qamran Iqbal 160*, Sahil Lotra 101*; Prasidh Krishna 2-42) drew with Karnataka 293 (Mayank Agarwal 160; Auqib Nabi 5-54, Sunil Kumar 2-51). J&K won the title on first-innings lead.