CHENNAI: AND, now, Jammu and Kashmir are united even when they are divided. United thanks to their love of cricket. United thanks to their undying love for feel-good stories. United thanks to their team on the verge of doing something unprecedented in the region's cricketing history. And everybody wants a piece of action. On Friday evening, Omar Abdullah, the region chief minister's, decided he would fly in to watch history unfold on the final day at Hubballi.
That history will surely arrive sometime after 2.00 PM in the city. There is one of more day's worth of cricket left in the final of the Ranji Trophy but it's purely academic in nature. Heavily-fancied Karnataka, eight-time champions with a plethora of India stars, past and present, trail by 477 runs. And they still need to pick up six wickets to start their fourth innings. This isn't champagne on ice. This is J & K's name already inked on the trophy, them becoming the 18th Indian state or region to win Indian cricket's greatest domestic honour. The 92-year-old competition has always had a penchant for surprise but this would surely be one of its greatest yet.
And like they have done so often this season, the man who broke through Karnataka's resistance on Friday was Auqib Nabi. The 29-year-old, who will surely be capped by India in the one-off Test against Afghanistan this Summer provided the seamer is fit, found Mayank Agarwal's pad in the innings 91st over. Agarwal, whose 160 had kept them in the game till that point, was given not out but Nabi reviewed the decision. The referral returned three reds. Two overs later, Nabi picked up his fifth of the innings, his 7th of a remarkable season. Karnataka's innings folded soon after for 293 to concede a lead of 291. J&K opted to bat again to completely guard against a Karnataka counter-attack with the bat.
They suffered a minor hiccup as they lost two wickets in the first three overs but they recovered to reach 184 for the loss of four wickets, with Qamran Iqbal unbeaten on 94.
How has the Baramulla pacer managed to be the Ranji Trophy's leading light? "I have kept it simple," he had told this daily earlier this season. "I have to bowl in good areas and not to over think about the results. I have to bowl consistently in good areas and wait for batters to commit mistakes on pitches that have little or no assistance for the pacers."
That has been on display over the last two days in Karnataka where the pitch has been overloaded in favour of the batters but Nabi and the others have not allowed that to dent their focus. They have just kept it simple, pitched it on a length and they continued to reap the rewards.
The ultimate reward will be theirs in less than 12 hours. And of course, the best story is always saved for teams who are considered rank outsiders, without any hope.