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After the first day of the Duleep Trophy 2025 quarter-final, North Zone resumed at 308/6 on day two with Kanhaiya Wadhawan and Mayank Dagar at the crease. Wickets kept falling from one end, but Kanhaiya kept his guard strong and was the last man to depart to the pavilion, scoring 76 off 152 balls. Among the lower order, Auqib Nabi contributed well with the bat, scoring 44 runs and most importantly, creating a pivotal partnership of 66 runs for the eighth wicket. However, there’s more to Auqib Nabi’s game that made the highlight of the match.
Jammu & Kashmir’s fast-bowler Auqib Nabi etched his name into the annals of Indian domestic cricket on Friday, August 29, achieving a rare hat-trick and taking four wickets in four balls during the Duleep Trophy 2025 quarterfinal against East Zone at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence Ground in Bengaluru. The 28-year-old pacer’s breathtaking spell, which culminated in a five-wicket haul (5/28) triggered a collapse as East Zone slumped from 200/4 to 230 all out, handing North Zone a 175-run first-innings lead.
Nabi’s historic performance makes him only the third bowler in Duleep Trophy history to claim a hat-trick, following Indian cricket legend Kapil Dev (1978-79) and Sairaj Bahutule (2000-01). His feat of taking four wickets in four consecutive deliveries also marks him as the fourth Indian bowler to achieve this rare milestone in first-class cricket, joining SS Saini (1988-89), Mohammed Mudhasir (2018-19), and Kulwant Khejroliya (2023-24).
Auqib Nabi finished as highest wicket-taking fast bowler in Ranji Trophy 2024-25
Bowling the 53rd over, Auqib Nabi first dismissed Virat Singh with a searing length ball that crashed into the middle stump. The next delivery saw Manishi shoulder arms to a ball that kept low, trapping him lbw for a duck. Mukhtar Hussain faced the hat-trick ball and was clean-bowled by a pacy in-dipper, sending the North Zone camp into a frenzy. On the first ball of his next over, Auqib had Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal caught behind by Kanhaiya Wadhawan, completing four wickets in four balls. He capped his spell by trapping Mohammed Shami lbw for 1, finishing with figures of 5/28 in 10.1 overs, as East Zone collapsed to 230 in 56.1 overs.
Auqib Nabi also had a stellar form in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy, where he emerged as the highest wicket-taking fast bowler, claiming 44 wickets in eight matches at an astonishing average of 13.93. His record-breaking season included six five-wicket hauls and two four-wicket hauls, surpassing the previous Jammu & Kashmir record of 38 wickets set by Parvez Rasool in 2016-17. Nabi gave an all-round contribution in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Kerala, where he scored 30 runs and took a five-wicket haul. North Zone’s commanding position was further bolstered by contributions from other bowlers, with Harshit Rana picking up 2/56.
