IPL: Baramulla Express Nabi wants to win the trophy for Delhi Capitals

The air of anticipation about seeing Aquib Nabi, heralded as the Baramulla Express, in action in IPL 2026 is growing. Come 1 April (next Wednesday), his team Delhi Capitals will start chasing the elusive title in an away opener against Lucknow Super Giants and chances are that the prolific wicket taker in domestic scene may have to play the attacking lynchpin in Mitchell Starc’s absence.

It’s not everyday that an uncapped pace bowler, no rookie at 29, commands a price tag of a whopping Rs 8.40 crores in his first auction. However, the Dale Steyn admirer is no ordinary quick as he played a stellar role in Jammu & Kashmir’s maiden Ranji Trophy crown for 2025-26 season with 60 wickets in 12.65 – which made him Player of the Tournament. It was, of course, the crowning glory for Nabi who picked up 104 wickets in last two Ranji seasons and had been hitting the headlines in all formats.

How has life changed for Nabi since last December when Capitals roped him in with a price tag unheard of in case of some of his peers who made the cut for IPL from J & K? ‘’It had been an emotional moment for my family as we were all at home watching the auction on TV. There was quite a bit of celebration at my village but then, life hasn’t really changed for me as I had been on the road soon after, joining a camp for the Vijay Hazare Trophy the very next day and then going on to play the Ranji,’’ a deadpan Nabi said.

Speaking to a select media group during an online interaction, Nabi hardly looked overwhelmed at the prospect of an IPL debut after facing series of rejections in the past. The strapping paceman, whose ability to swing the ball both ways with the red ball proves a handful for the batters, has drawn up a ‘to do’ list to shine in the new role: ‘’My strength is to swing the new ball early on and try to give breakthroughs for my team. However, as someone who had been essentially a red ball bowler, I need to improve on improve on my death bowling.’’

Ever since he joined the pre-season training for Capitals at their Kotla base, Nabi had been honing on the finer points of fitting into this format under the watchful eyes of Munaf Patel – one of the unsung heroes of India’s 2011 ICC World Cup triumph at home. ‘’Munaf bhai is someone who doesn’t believe in changing too many things and sets specific goals. Incidentally, I had been a net bowler in the past with Sunrisers Hyderabad and a couple of other franchises where I had spoken to overseas bowlers to pick up tips.

‘’The biggest difference between domestic cricket in any format and the IPL stage is that there is no margin of error here. I need to keep myself ready accordingly,’’ remarked Nabi, who picked up15 wickets in seven outings in the last Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy – a testimony to his growing confidence in white ball cricket.

It was on Saturday when Australian great Starc took to social media to announce that he would not be available for the first phase of IPL – leaving the Capitals think tank to choose their new ball attack from the likes of Nabi, left-handed Natarajan, Lungi Ngidi and Kyle Jamieson. Asked what goals he had set for himself in his first IPL season, Nabi brushed aside any thought of talk of expectations and said in a matter-of-fact manner: ‘’My goal is to become the highest wicket taker in any tournament that I play. I just want to concentrate on the process, not think out of the box and help Delhi win their first trophy.’’

The devastating impact which he had in the last couple of seasons on Indian cricket prompted former India skipper Sourav Ganguly, a member of the DC family, to pitch for his selection in the white ball tour of England in June-July. For now, Nabi of course does not want to think beyond his nose: ‘’Yes, playing for India is the ultimate goal but my focus will be on IPL for the next two months.’’