In some ways, Nabi mirrors J&K’s rise as a cricket power. From searching for recognition, they’re close to the height of Indian home cricket.
Everyone – from the who’s who of J&Okay politics to senior directors, from former cricketers to the present crop – is rooting for the facet. Until final season, they can not recall sitting for greater than two interviews. Now, they’re fielding that many each hour.
“I hadn’t seen that earlier,” he says.
Naturally, he nurtured ambitions of graduating to the senior Delhi group. When that did not occur – Sharma cites his court docket battles within the match-fixing case as one of many causes – he determined to take up what got here his method. “Honestly, I wasn’t keen on joining,” Sharma says. “But with Delhi, I was going nowhere. Maybe the court cases were a hindrance even though I was cleared. So I took up the J&K offer after Mithun convinced me.”
Sharma’s early days at J&Okay have been turbulent. He rapidly sensed a divide between the group’s IPL gamers and the remainder of the squad, and he made it clear he wished to dismantle any hint of “star culture”.
The transfer didn’t go down properly. A gaggle of gamers wrote to the court-appointed committee, headed by Brigadier Anil Gupta, complaining about Sharma’s strategies. Sensing the scenario might spiral downwards, the committee suggested Sharma to melt his method.
Sharma did, however he hasn’t forgotten what had occurred.
“I still have those letters,” he says with amusing. “They thought I was a dictator. While I didn’t change my coaching methods, I learnt to communicate the way they liked.”
On his first day in cost, when Sharma requested all of the gamers about their achievements and objectives, he was startled to see a sample. “They were celebrating being IPL net bowlers,” he says. “If they earned a trial, they wore it as a badge of honour. That survival attitude wasn’t good enough. We needed to change it.”
These modifications did not occur in a single day. It developed over a three-year interval – a uncommon luxurious for coaches, particularly in J&Okay, an affiliation lengthy riddled with administrative points.
“Credit goes to Manhas and his team for giving me that rope,” Sharma says. “When you work with a side for that long, it starts to feel like home. You build understanding. You build bonds.
“The gamers perceive these items [focus on discipline], typically even get indignant, nevertheless it’s all for their very own good. We’re like associates now. When we come to the bottom, we do not go away for six hours. Whatever they do afterward, whether or not they roam round or go someplace, that is their enterprise; we’ve got no downside with it. But once they arrive within the morning, they need to be ready and disciplined.”
“His dedication to health has sparked a metamorphosis throughout the group. He can compete even with the Under-19 youngsters, in all probability even beat them on the subject of health. Even at 42, he needs to maintain batting and excellent his craft”
Ajay Sharma on Paras Dogra, the captain
The defining moment of Sharma’s tenure came more than two years after he took charge, at Mumbai airport last season when former India and Tamil Nadu quick bowler L Balaji spotted him and greeted him warmly, calling him the “father of centuries”.
The players looked puzzled. Within seconds, phones were whipped out. A quick search revealed what many hadn’t known: Sharma averaged 68 in 129 first-class matches and had scored 38 centuries in the format. “They realised then who their head coach was,” a JKCA official says.
J&Okay batted with the “confidence of centurions although nobody made a century,” the official says with a laugh, as they went on to beat Mumbai in Mumbai in the next game. The match began with hoopla surrounding Rohit Sharma’s return to the Ranji Trophy – it would eventually be his last first-class match – but ended with J&K having toppled the 42-time champions.
That win sparked change elsewhere.
It gave JKCA the push to prepare surfaces that aid fast bowlers and help batters better equip themselves against bounce. They built the state’s first red-soil surface at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium prior to this season.
However, in a twist, Mumbai returned the favour in the 2025-26 season-opener on the same kind of surface J&K had prepared to counter them. But the 35-run loss was merely a stepping stone.
The win against Mumbai in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy had sparked joy. But once the dust settled, Sharma made a strong statement ahead of their next league fixture against Baroda.
“Samad is his own enemy. His mindset was, ‘I want to be a gun IPL player’. He had to be told, ‘if you win a Ranji title for J&K, you will be a star automatically’. His manner of dismissals pained me no end. By dropping him, I sent that message out to the group. And they realised, if Samad can be dropped, anyone could be.”
There’s been noticeable change within the Samad this season. While he has nonetheless, in Sharma’s phrases, “missed four centuries”, he nonetheless tops their run charts with 655 runs in 13 innings at a mean of 59.54.
Nabi and Samad are simply two of a number of gamers who’ve taken some time to bloom.
“That mindset to become someone who can win us even if Nabi isn’t there has come after that”
Ajay Sharma on Yudhvir Singh
Sunil, a left-arm seamer, was picked from a expertise hunt two years in the past, and straightaway drafted into the checklist of probables. He hadn’t acquired formal teaching till he was 25. Here he’s, three years on, having performed a key function for J&Okay. He took 7 for 68 within the semi-final, and an important three-for within the quarter-final, in opposition to Madhya Pradesh, which helped open up a lead and finally safe victory.
“We initially identified him as a white-ball prospect, but the skills he showed in the nets and his attitude convinced us we had something to work with,” Sharma says. “And Sunil has proved us right.”
Vanshaj’s potential was found accidentally. When they despatched him as a nightwatcher in opposition to Delhi. “He scored eight runs, but blunted 60 deliveries at No. 4. His role was key to us successfully chasing 179. That stonewalling helped Qamran Iqbal, who made 133 not out.”
Two months later on the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Vanshaj once more proved his batting capabilities by serving to J&Okay win from an unbelievable scenario. Reduced to 90 for 7 in a chase of 269 in opposition to Hyderabad, Vanshaj and Nabi placed on 182 for the eighth wicket to seal victory.
While specializing in people has been an enormous a part of their marketing campaign, they have not needed to look too far past the dressing room for inspiration. Dogra was introduced in as captain three seasons in the past as an expert, after greater than twenty years in first-class cricket, largely with Himachal Pradesh.
In the semi-final, Dogra grew to become solely the second participant in Ranji historical past – after Wasim Jaffer – to scale the ten,000-run mark. He hasn’t had a prolific season, however his doughty efforts have mixed to provide 551 runs in 14 innings at a mean of 42.38, a contribution that may’t be undermined.
“His commitment to fitness has sparked a transformation within the group,” Sharma says of his captain. “He can compete even with the Under-19 kids, probably even beat them when it comes to fitness. Even at 42, he wants to keep batting and perfect his craft. He brings calmness to the group. He’s a mature leader, and his hunger to perform even at this age is commendable.”
On the brink of historical past in Hubballi, there may be quiet conviction within the J&Okay camp. From knocking on doorways to knocking over giants, their journey has been constructed on resilience, reinvention and togetherness. Whatever the consequence in opposition to Karnataka, this a lot is for certain: J&Okay are not hopeful and impressive outsiders. They belong.
Shashank Kishore is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo
