Auqib Nabi’s story: The boy meant to be a doctor who became Baramulla's swing king

On August 03, 2026, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named Auqib Nabi as the replacement for their premier pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, for their upcoming two-match Test series in Sri Lanka, starting on August 15. It’s a small step for the pacer, who once was meant to be a doctor and work with a stethoscope, rather than now moving the red ball to write history for the national side.

Growing up in a curfew-stricken Baramulla, Nabi’s life was full of tough periods. But his pastime was imitating the bowling action of the former South Africa pacer, Dale Steyn, whom he calls a ‘khoobsurat genbaaz’ (a beautiful bowler). In his words, Steyn’s bowling has been nothing short of poetry.

Having gone through the hard yards with the ball and making Jammu and Kashmir the champions of the Ranji Trophy 2025/26 edition, Nabi has taken the first step towards bigger success. In 2024/25, J&K missed out on progressing by the narrowest margin due to the 81-run stand between Kerala’s Basil Thampi and M Nidheesh.

But the sleepless nights of Nabi made him stronger, and in 2025/26, luck didn’t let him in between.

From stethoscope to seam: Auqib Nabi's early struggles against his father's doctor dream

Heading into the 2024/25 season of domestic cricket, Nabi had only 46 wickets in 20 matches. These were not strong numbers for any player to hold his position. But the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) kept giving him chances despite not having the desired results.

All of these happened due to the former Indian pacer, Irfan Pathan, who joined the side in a player-cum-mentor role. He saw the potential and spark in the right-arm pacer and asked the selectors to invest in the pacer for the long term.

Nabi, during an interaction with the Times of India, revealed that he used to bowl outswing at the start of his career before realizing the importance of learning the art of bowling in-swinging deliveries, which eventually saw him lose the outswingers.

“I needed to move the ball both ways. I started working on my wrist position and on what length to hit. To be honest, I’ve kept things simple for the past 1–2 years. Now, I have good control over both swings. That’s why I’m getting more wickets.” Nabi laughed.

“When I made my Ranji Trophy debut, we had Irfan Pathan, ther former Indian all-rounder, with us. He gave me a lot of useful tips related to bowling. He was the first one who told me to work on my wrist and not change anything. After he left, we didn’t have any bowling coach. We were on our own,” He added.

See Also: Watch: IPL 2026: Auqib Nabi’s 95-meter six in ‘super sixes challenge’ for DC goes viral

P Krishna Kumar, the bowling coach of the J&K side, never doubted that Nabi was one of the sharpest bowlers. It takes a lot for a pacer to keep bowling on the right line and length for a long time, especially on the benign surfaces of Asia, where there is hardly any assistance and help from the pacers.

“When I came to J&K as coach, it was evident Auqib had a beautiful natural bowling action, like Mohammad Shami’s wrist position. But his outswinger needed variations for him to become effective. Not only is he a skilled bowler, he learns quickly.” Krishna Kumar revealed to the Indian Express.

The late bloomer: How Auqib Nabi found his swing when others had already peaked

Nabi’s father, Gulam Nabi, is an English teacher in a government school in Baramulla, and as Auqib was good in studies, Gulam had the dream of making his son a doctor in the future. In his childhood days, he used to play tennis-ball cricket, just for fun.  

Junior Nabi had a friend who went to the JKCA trial and wasn’t selected. But the friend’s stories of the selection pushed him to join the camps. The road wasn’t smooth at all as Auqib didn’t get selected for the first 2-3 years.

In 2016, which was his last year in the U-19 batch, Auqib got selected for the four-day matches. Having played the Cooch Behar Trophy, he made up his mind that cricket would be the path he would always choose. That was followed by him playing two to three more years in the U-23 before making his debut in the Ranji Trophy in 2020.

“My father used to tell me that studies were important. I was good at them too. He was really upset when I started playing cricket. After I got picked for U-19, he began supporting me. Before that, he was against it. Now he’s my biggest fan.” He addressed.

But dreaming of joining India from J&K wasn’t straightforward. It finally took shape in his mind when he saw fellow Kashmiri, Parvez Rasool, making his debut for the national side.

See Also: Watch: KL Rahul’s battle against Auqib Nabi in practice ahead of LSG vs DC IPL 2026 clash goes viral

Nabi shared an interesting story from his trial. When he reached Jammu, he realized that he needed spikes to bowl, which he borrowed from a friend, who had already played in the U-19 set-up.

The proverb says that one should dream big of flying high in the air, but the feet should always remain on the ground. And Nabi walks by the same words. He believes in destiny and hard work. Apart from playing for India, his distant dream is to open a cricket academy in Baramulla, where he can nurture more Auqibs in the future.

Rewriting the record books — Inside Auqib Nabi's dominant Ranji Trophy 2025/26 season

Nabi finished the Ranji Trophy 2025/26 season as the leading wicket-taker, collecting 60 wickets. His tally is now the seventh-highest by any bowler in a single edition of the tournament and the third-highest among all the fast bowlers, only behind the 67 wickets by Jaydev Unadkat in 2019-20 and Dodda Ganesh’s 62 in 1998-99.

Across the last two seasons of 2024/25 and 2025/26 of Ranji Trophy, Nabi has collected 104 wickets. Only one seamer has taken more wickets in two successive editions of the competition, which was Jaydev Unadkat’s 108 wickets in 2018-19 and 2019-20.

Watch Auqib Nabi's wickets from Ranji Trophy 2025/26 in this video here- 

Nabi, in the 2025/26 season, became the first J&K bowler to bag 50+ wickets in an edition of the Ranji Trophy. The previous best finish for a J&K bowler was also Nabi’s 44 wickets in 2024-25. His 8 five-wicket hauls in 2025/26 are the equal-most by a pacer in a first-class season in India.

 It wasn’t about only his bowling performances. He showed his batting skills and smashed a dashing knock of an unbeaten 114 runs against Hyderabad in a Vijay Hazare Trophy game, his maiden century of his professional career, which came at number 8.

He picked up 95 wickets across all senior men’s domestic tournaments in the 2025/26 season. His tally is the second-highest for any bowler in a season in India, behind Unadkat’s 105 in 2019/20.

India’s missing piece? Can Auqib Nabi be the answer in seam-friendly, swinging conditions

Nabi, thanks to his superb performance, featured in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 for the Delhi Capitals (DC). He played five games in the edition but didn’t pick up a single wicket. His red-ball lengths were easy to hit for the T20 specialist batters as he was pumped for an economy rate of 11.46.

Nabi continued his red-ball bowling practice even during the IPL when he got a few vital tips from Kyle Jamieson and Mukesh Kumar. Mitchell Starc and Lungi Ngidi were also world-class and veteran Test bowlers, rich with experience.

See Also: Shree Charani story: From plastic bat to India women's spin answer

The J&K bowler will hope to make his debut in Sri Lanka and continue the same success with the red ball on the placid surface. If he gets the India cap in one of the two Tests in Colombo and Galle, he can go to New Zealand with freedom.

Playing domestic cricket and international cricket isn’t the same. And Nabi will need to shift his focus and approach more if he wants to do well. And his philosophy of ‘no excuses’ will help him to bowl well and in the right channels to challenge the batters in every single spell. But can be becomes India’s answer to the quest of finding a swinging bowler? Only time will tell.

Auqib Nabi’s story with rise in Ranji Trophy 2025/26- FAQs