New Delhi: After years of perseverance, right-arm pacer Auqib Nabi Dar has emerged as Jammu & Kashmir’s bowling spearhead this Ranji Trophy season, transforming from a peripheral figure to a match-winning force in a remarkable journey that spans five years.
In a season where spinners largely dominated, Dar bucked the trend. With 38 wickets to his name, including five five-wicket hauls at an average of 13.45, he stands tall as this season’s second-highest wicket-taker and is one of just two pacers in the top ten wicket-takers list.
“It is a great feeling to have. I have worked very hard for it,” Dar told HT. “I am looking forward to the knockouts.”
As one of the very few players from Baramulla to have become a regular in the Ranji Trophy, his rise has coincided with J&K’s resurgence in the tournament. After a five-year drought, the team has stormed into the knockouts with victories against powerhouses like Mumbai and Baroda.
For a team that has reached the quarter-finals only thrice in their 55-year Ranji Trophy history, this season marks more than just progress. And Dar is leading the charge.
“There is no pressure. All the boys are positive because we have remained undefeated so far. We have done everything while being on one page and we want to do something good for the state,” said Dar. “There is a different player of the match in every game.”
In their last group stage match against star-studded Mumbai, Dar picked up 2/36 and 4/80 dismissing Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube and Shardul Thakur.
“We have watched them so much on TV and it was the first time I was playing with them. So, I felt a little nervous but after the first few overs, I started feeling normal. It is my best memory of the Ranji season. It was a lot of fun, playing for 5-6 days with several Indian players turning up,” he added.
Dar belonged to a household where academic excellence was the expected path but few knew that Dar would secretly mimic the bowling action of South African pace legend Dale Steyn. Eventually, he traded his medical textbooks for the cricket ball, paving his own journey.
“My father, a teacher by profession, had different plans for me,” recalled the fast bowler, whose early years were dominated by academics.
What started as casual bowling sessions in tennis-ball matches gradually evolved into something more serious. The turning point came through a friend’s unsuccessful under-16 trial at the J&K Cricket Association (JKCA).
His own journey through the selection trials wasn’t an immediate success either. The first attempt ended in disappointment, but he remained determined. The breakthrough finally came in 2018 when he earned his spot in the senior team, making his debut in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Injury cut short his initial run after just two matches but the following year marked a significant milestone as he donned the Ranji whites for his debut against Jharkhand.
“I used to walk around imagining I was Steyn,” he said, reflecting on the days when cricket was just a dream.
In the first quarter-final against Kerala in Pune that begins on Saturday, Dar is planning to stick to the process that has worked. “I have to keep things simple. It’s going to be the same process as the last match. The simpler you keep things, the better it is,” he said. “There is no extra pressure, nothing. We are all going with the same positive frame of mind.”
Despite having no coaches or formal training at an academy growing up, Dar is quick to acknowledge the pivotal role of his mentors off-late. He said: “Irfan Pathan was our coach and mentor for a few seasons. I learnt a lot from him. J&K bowling coach (Pudiyangum) Krishnakumar sir has also been instrumental in shaping my skills.”
