From escaping windows to an Rs 8.4 crore IPL Deal: How Aquib Nabi fuelled J&K’s historic Ranji trophy triumph | India News
4 min readBaramullaUpdated: Feb 28, 2026 11:41 PM IST
Junoon is the word Aquib Nabi’s father, Ghulam Nabi dar uses to describe his son’s love for cricket. “I even remember locking him in a room to study and he’d escape through the windows to go play,” he said on Saturday as the house erupted in joy with J&K’s maiden Ranji Trophy win.
Just beyond Baramulla, in the small town of Sheeri, a lane barely four-feet wide, leads to Nabi’s house. His grandmother, mother and sister were glued to the television set in the room next to the kitchen. In every room, there is a display of all of Nabi’s cricketing trophies.
On Saturday, J&K team beat eight-time titlist Karnataka to win its maiden Ranji Trophy at the Karnataka State Cricket Association. In Nabi’s house, the victory is twice as sweet: the 29-year-old took the highest number of wickets this Ranji season with at least three five-wicket hauls, including in the final.
The historic win by the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket team has united leaders across the political divide in praise and collective pride. The victory, first in the six decades of cricket history in Jammu and Kashmir, has also united the two regions in celebrations.
While his sister, Naziya repeated her brother’s match winning statistics, his mother’s hands were raised in prayer for the team’s victory. (Express photo by Shuaib Masoodi)
While his sister, Naziya repeated her brother’s match winning statistics, his mother’s hands were raised in prayer for the team’s victory, “they have all worked so hard,”. On the final day of the match, as J&K’s lead against Karnataka crossed 600, “They have won, only the celebration is being delayed,” and then she spots Nabi on the screen, “that’s him!” She shrieked.
Nabi’s mother, Mehmooda Begum describes him as a quiet but restless boy. “Sharief aur chup chap hai,” she says smiling. The family says they did not take his cricketing career “too seriously” until he qualified for the under-19 team. “He would keep getting scolded by me,” Ghulam Nabi laughs. “I never bought him a bat or any of the kit required for him to play seriously but he was so passionate that eventually I gave in.”
A government school teacher himself, he said that he realised that it is “unfair and impossible” to change a child’s mind. The three siblings – Aquib, Naziya and Imran – all studied science in school as their father wished for them to study medicine but all three are on different paths.
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After hearing his Class 12 exams and even taking the NEET exam, “he came to me with his forms and said mama, I want to play cricket,” his mother recalled. After this, as much as they wanted him to become a doctor, they let him take his shot at cricket.
At Srinagar’s Amar Singh College, Nabi enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts course. His sister says that the choice of college was mainly for its grounds. “He got enough practice and soon he was picked up by a team for the Downtown Premier League,” Ghulam Nabi said.
He received Rs 23,000 from that bid and used it to buy gifts for his parents. “He came to me and said this is the first money I’ve earned and it is for you,” he adds.
Nabi’s cousin Bilal, who was among those who turned up at the house to celebrate the win, said other cousins in the family played cricket and often lent him a bat or a pad to play. He also recalls Nabi hiding out in the attic of his house when visitors flooded his house when he was picked up by Delhi Capitals For this year’s IPL season for 8.4 crore. KL Rahulsoon to be Nabi’s captain in the IPL was among the wickets he took in this match.
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Smiling with unrestrained joy, Naziya remembers his days of bunking school to play matches and covering for her brother with the parents. “It was worth it,” she adds.
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