Auqib Nabi had an off day, but Jammu and Kashmir found its heroes in Rohit Sharma and Sunil Kumar. Rohit claimed the second five-wicket haul of his First-Class career, while Sunil picked up four wickets to bowl Madhya Pradesh out for 196 on the opening day of its Ranji Trophy Group A fixture on Sunday.

In reply, J&K ended the day at three for one, with Avesh Khan trapping Shubham Khajuria leg before wicket off the penultimate ball of the day.

For Rohit (five for 36) it was a satisfying return to First-Class cricket after two years. Sharing his name with India’s erstwhile captain, the tall pacer showed little sign of rust, keeping an inexperienced MP batting line-up on its toes at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium.

J&K’s Sunil Kumar bowls on the first day of the Ranji Trophy fixture against Madhya Pradesh at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar on Sunday., October 11, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
IMRAN NISSAR

J&K’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss paid off early as Sunil (four for 69) troubled the openers before dismissing Yash Dubey. Rohit then joined the act, hitting the right areas and ensuring MP could not settle into a rhythm.

With three debutants in its ranks, MP needed its senior batters to step up. Captain Shubham Sharma (79, 174b, 8×4) took responsibility, adding 65 runs for the fourth wicket with debutant Chanchal Rathore before stitching together a 51-run stand for the seventh wicket with Aryan Pandey.

Shubham brought up a gritty half-century, showing patience as he tried to steady the innings. Sunil had a chance to claim a five-wicket haul of his own but put down a sharp return catch offered by the MP captain. He made amends by dismissing Pandey in the final session and removing Avesh Khan off the next delivery.

Madhya Pradesh fast bowler Avesh Khan celebrates the dismissal of J&K’s Shubham Khajuria during their Ranji Trophy match at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
IMRAN NISSAR

Nabi, who struggled to find his rhythm for much of the day, eventually picked up a wicket as MP’s lower order folded, losing its last four wickets for just 34 runs.

The scores: Madhya Pradesh — 1st innings: Harsh Gawli c Samad b Rohit 12, Yash Dubey lbw b Sunil 4, Himanshu Mantri c Samad b Rohit 17, Shubham Sharma c Dogra b Rohit 79, Chanchal Rathore c Wadhawan b Rohit 33, Atharva Mahajan b Rohit 0, Saransh Jain lbw b Sunil 0, Aryan Pandey c Wadhawan b Sunil 35, Avesh Khan c Wadhawan b Sunil 0, Ravi Kiran lbw b Nabi 1, Akshay Sharma (not out) 0; Extras (b-4, lb-6, nb-5): 15; Total (in 74.2 overs): 196.

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-33, 3-41, 4-106, 5-108, 6-111, 7-162, 8-162, 9-179.

J&K bowling: Nabi 20-3-42-1, Sunil 23-3-69-4, Rohit 21.2-8-36-5, Lone 6-0-33-0, Vanshaj 4-0-6-0.

J&K — 1st innings: Qamran Iqbal (batting) 3, Shubham Khajuria lbw b Avesh Khan 0, Vanshaj Sharma (batting) 0; Total (for one wkt. in three overs): 3.

Fall of wicket: 1-3.

MP bowling: Ravi Kiran 1-0-1-0, Aryan 1-0-1-0, Avesh 1-0-1-1.

Toss: J&K.

When Mithun Manhas rang the bell to signal the start of play in the Irani Cup in Srinagar on Thursday (October 1, 2026), the significance of it was not just confined to his current position as BCCI president. The 49-year-old enjoys an intimacy with this region on multiple fronts: he was born in Jammu, concluded his long playing career by representing J&K for two seasons, and took his first steps as administrator in the Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).

It was during Manhas’ time in the JKCA subcommittee that Auqib Nabi began grabbing attention as a pace bowler of promise. If Manhas has been elevated to the BCCI top brass since then, Nabi’s ascent has seen him become the third cricketer from J&K to play for India.

After the opening day’s play in the Irani Cup, Manhas praised Nabi for his entry into the Indian set-up. “This definitely proves that you could be from anywhere. He is from Baramulla. If you look at his story, it is very inspiring. There are some other players who have not yet come to the forefront, but they have similar stories. If you are talented, hardworking and have passion, you can definitely play for the country,” Manhas told the media on Thursday.

Manhas did acknowledge the need for better infrastructure in the districts of J&K as well.

“When I was part of the subcommittee, we used to organise talent hunt programmes. Now, the need of the hour is to go further than that. We need to have grounds there. We used to get the talent to Srinagar or Jammu and then organise camps. It will take some time, but I think it’s on the right track. Hopefully, the JKCA has chalked out plans on how to make stadiums in Jammu, Kashmir and other adjoining districts as well. You’ll hopefully see that in a year or so,” he said.

A little after 1 p.m., at the Barsapara in Guwahati, Auqib Nabi received his India cap from K.L. Rahul. 

Less than an hour earlier, in Srinagar, Nabi was a recurring theme of the press conferences building up to the Irani Cup fixture. It wasn’t yet known that he would become just the third cricketer from Jammu & Kashmir to play for India, but such had been the pacer’s impact on his team’s Ranji Trophy-winning exploits in 2025-26 that the two captains were asked repeatedly about Nabi’s absence for J&K against Rest of India.

For Paras Dogra, the query was at the core of J&K’s chances of not only winning the Irani Cup but also defending its Ranji title. “Obviously, he took 60 wickets last year. But we have [other] good bowlers. This is a good sign for J&K that cricket is growing and other boys will get a chance,” the 41-year-old said. 

“Sunil Kumar took 31 wickets, but it was overshadowed. Umar Nazir is ready and hungry. There are a couple of other pacers too.”