Hubli, February 24 – Jammu and Kashmir won the toss and chose to bat first against eight-time champions Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy final at the KSCA Hubli Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
Jammu & Kashmir has qualified for its first Ranji Trophy title. Notably, the last team to win their maiden Ranji Trophy title was MP in the 2021-22 season.
While Paras Dogra-led J&K have a maiden title within reach, Devdutt Padikkal-led Karnataka are aiming for their first crown in over a decade. J&K's only defeat this season came in a 35-run loss to Mumbai in October, and they have been on a winning streak since then.
Karnataka had a campaign filled with ups and downs. They were in a strong position before the tournament paused for the white-ball leg, but the restart brought a significant setback in the form of a heavy defeat to Madhya Pradesh. That result left them with little room for error, and with weather interruptions and resistance from Punjab adding to the tension, their path to qualification grew increasingly narrow.
Stepping up when it mattered most, newly appointed captain Padikkal produced an unbeaten 120, steering his side into the quarterfinals as daylight faded. From there, momentum built: a strong victory over Mumbai was followed by a dominant display against Uttarakhand, securing their place as hosts for the final.
Playing XIs:
Jammu and Kashmir: Paras Dogra (c), Qamran Iqbal, Yawer Hassan, Shubham Singh Pundir, Abdul Samad, Kanhaiya Wadhawan (wk), Abid Mushtaq, Auqib Nabi, Yudhvir Singh, Sahil Lotra, Sunil Kumar
Karnataka: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal (c), Karun Nair, Smaran Ravichandran, Shreyas Gopal, Kruthik Krishna (wk), Vidyadhar Patil, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Shikhar Shetty, Prasidh Krishna
