Ranji final: Parvez Rasool, first J&K player for India, fancies their chances

Remember Parvez Rasool, the spinning allrounder, who became a talking point in Indian cricket as the first-ever cricketer from Jammu & Kashmir to make the senior national team in 2014? He was also a barrier-breaker from his state, now a Union Territory, in terms of opening the doors to the IPL gravy train for the likes of Abdul Samad, Umran Malik or Rashik Salam.

When Paras Dogra leads out a proud J&K side in their first-ever bow in a Ranji Trophy final against the star-studded Karnataka in Hubballi from Tuesday, Rasool will have enough reasons to feel proud. Now 37, the former captain who was part of the team in two of their previous best shows — quarter-final appearances in 2014-15 and 2019-20 — has seen the team's chequered journey from really close quarters.

Be the team hotel being raided by J&K Police back in 2013 in an apparent search for a terrorist in the middle of a Ranji game, or being forced to train in Baroda (thanks to an initiative by their then mentor Irfan Pathan) in 2019 after a communication breakdown due to the abrogation of Article 370, the journey has been anything but smooth.

‘’It’s a huge moment for our cricket, given the odds that we have had to combat. Yes, they are up against a star-studded line-up like Karnataka but cricket can be a funny game. Who would have given us a chance in the semi-final against Bengal after (Mohammed) Shami took 8-90 against us in the first innings?’’ asked Rasool, who retired from first-class cricket last October after a productive 15 years with J&K, and has been enjoying his time in the Legends League.

Speaking to National Herald over phone, Rasool pinned a lot of hope on new pace ace Aquib Nabi, wrecker-in-chief for the past two Ranji seasons. ‘’As I said a few days back, it was almost like Nabi versus the Rest of India for the past two seasons. The way he has worked on his fitness to be able to bowl 30 to 40 overs per game across two seasons is unbelievable,’’ Rasool said. This included Player of the Match performances in both this year’s quarters and semis against Madhya Pradesh and Bengal, respectively.

The 29-year-old Nabi has already claimed 55 wickets in the 2025-26 season — and counting — while he was the second highest wicket-taker in 2024-25 with 44 scalps. Last season, J&K had fallen agonisingly short of what could have been a first-ever semis berth had they not conceded a one-run first innings lead to Kerala.

‘’Now that they are in the final, entire J&K will be following us and expectations are building. I can tell you that these boys take a lot pride in success in red-ball cricket, as it tests the character. I hope we play Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali finals also,” said Rasool, a two-time winner of BCCI’s Lala Amarnath award for best domestic allrounder.

Asked to break down the journey of the past 15 years and the new found self-belief, Rasool — who played his only ODI against Bangladesh in 2014 (apart from a T20I vs England) — believed it was the culmination of a process and no overnight feat. ‘’The man who taught us self-belief was, of course, sir Bishan Singh Bedi who joined as a mentor back in 2011. It was he who taught us that don’t go and play for participation only — you have the talent to do well,’’ said Rasool. ‘’Then Sunil Joshi came while Irfan Pathan guided us through some tough times.’’

The role of current coach Ajay Sharma, a former India allrounder and stalwart of Delhi cricket, has come in for wholesome praise, but Rasool has been out of the state team for the past two seasons.

Looking beyond the new found enthusiasm in national cricket media, Rasool feels there is still a lot to be done on the infrastructure front for the game in J&K. ‘’See for the past 50 years, we have struggled with only two stadia and lack of training facilities. Now that we have a BCCI president (in Mithun Manhas) who was a stalwart in our cricket and knows our shortcomings inside out, we can hope for things to pick up pace,’’ he said.