PTI
Hubballi
Jammu and Kashmir scripted an extraordinary tale of resilience in Indian domestic cricket to claim their maiden Ranji Trophy title by out-batting traditional heavyweights Karnataka here on Saturday, capping a glorious season that saw them tackle favourites and fellow upstarts with equal tact and confidence.
The bald facts will tell that Jammu and Kashmir held the eight-time former champions to a draw punctuated by a 291-run first innings lead to lock the crown, an advantage they extended to 633 runs after scoring 342/4 in their second innings on the fifth and final day here.
Opener Qamran Iqbal’s second first-class hundred (160 not out) and Sahil Lotra’s maiden first-class ton (101 not out) added sheen to the historical occasion.
But the day was always meant to be more than just cold numbers, it was meant to tell the story of determination and the power of a dream that was more than six decades in the making.
It was 67 years ago when Jammu and Kashmir made their debut in India’s premier domestic competition, which is now
92 years old.
