All the attention on the second day of the 2025-26 Duleep Trophy encounter between North Zone and East Zone was on Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana, who are playing their last competitive match before heading for the Asia Cup. Instead, it was Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler Auqib Nabi, who made everyone sit up and take note by bagging a five-wicket haul in no time, which included picking up four wickets in four balls.
"I had not seen Nabi bowl earlier," Arshdeep said after the second day's play in Bengaluru. "The first time I saw him was at the [North Zone] nets, and I think in his first ten balls, he must have taken some seven wickets. That's when I realised, this lad is special. The ball comes out of his hand really nicely. The work he has put in in domestic cricket, everyone has seen it today. I think he will take a lot of wickets in the future as well."
The third session of the quarter-final between East Zone and North Zone was moving at a sedate pace. East Zone wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra had just been dismissed, but Virat Singh was looking fairly unhurried on 69, and having seen off long spells from Arshdeep and Harshit, would have harboured hopes of going to stumps unscathed.
All that changed around 4.15pm when, in the 53rd over of the innings, Nabi decided to show why he finished the 2024-25 Ranji trophy season as the highest wicket-taker among the fast bowlers.
He first flattened Virat's middle stump with a pacy length ball. The next delivery, he got one to skid through low and trapped Manishi, who shouldered arms, lbw. Assam's Mukhtar Hussain faced the hat-trick ball and got nowhere close to the sharp in-ducker that rattled his off and middle stump.
That signalled the end of Nabi's eighth over, but he was not yet done. On the first ball of his next over, he had Suraj Singh Jaiswal caught behind to become just the fifth Indian bowler to claim four wickets in four balls in first-class cricket. Soon, Nabi trapped Mohammed Shami in front to claim his ninth five-wicket haul in just his 30th match.
Nabi had figures of 0 for 23 in seven overs in his first spell; in his second, he returned 5 for 5 in 3.1 overs. East Zone, who were on 222 for 5, midway through the 53rd over, lost 5 for 8 in 22 balls to be bowled out for 230. Nabi's spell helped North Zone take a 175-run first-innings lead and a firm grip on proceedings.
"When we went into the tea break, the coaches told us that it's all gone a bit flat, so they asked us to show some enthusiasm, and that's what we did", Nabi told ESPNcricinfo. "I am feeling very good. This is a rare record, four in four, but more importantly, I got my team a first-innings lead.
"When I started my spell, I was bowling well. I beat the bat a number of times, and I felt I was a bit unlucky. I try and pick up wickets, if that doesn't work, I try and contain the batters. Today, I just tried to put the ball in one place, and it worked. There was a nice breeze blowing across the ground in the evening and I got help from that."
The second day was not just about Nabi the fast bowler. In the morning session, he also smashed 44 in 33 balls, including four fours and two sixes, taking North Zone to safer shores after they had slipped to 308 for 7. He added 66 runs for the eighth wicket with Kanhaiya Wadhawan, with North Zone finishing on 405.
"When you bat well, it helps build your confidence and carries it forward," Nabi said. "It shows in your bowling and fielding. It [my innings] was crucial for the team. I work a lot on my batting. I practice a lot."
It's been a sensational year and a half for Nabi. Before the start of the 2024-25 Ranji season, he had 46 wickets in 20 matches. By the end of the season, he had nearly doubled his tally. He picked up 44 wickets in eight matches - the second-most in the season - striking at 30.47, which included six five-fors. Nabi's sensational form coincided with J&K qualifying for the Ranji knockouts for the first time in five years. While they narrowly missed out on a semi-final berth, the 28-year-old earned his maiden Duleep Trophy call-up.
J&K recorded eight wins in last year's Ranji season. One of those wins came against Mumbai, which had several international players in the XI, including former Test captain Rohit Sharma. Nabi took six wickets in that game, dismissing the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube and Shardul Thakur. It was a performance that gave Nabi plenty of confidence.
"As a bowler, as a cricketer, that was a very important match for us," he said. "Almost half of the Indian side was playing. The motivation is different when you bowl to good players. And we also had great preparation. Our board got us to Mumbai a week before the match to acclimatise to the conditions and that helped."
Nabi hails from Baramulla, in Kashmir. His father is a teacher in a government school and one of his biggest supporters. But, the cricket facilities in Baramulla for cricket are almost non-existent. The closest ground from his house is in Srinagar, which is a fair distance. Did that deter him at any point growing up? "Jab aapka goal India ke liye khelna ho, toh ye sab matter nahi karta. [If your goal is to play for India, these things don't matter]," he says. "It doesn't matter if you have limited resources. You have to use them. You can't make excuses. You have to keep improving if you want to play for your country. And that's my goal… to wear the India whites."