Auqib Nabi Earns Maiden India Call-Up: The Untold Story of The Baramulla Express

Auqib Nabi earned his maiden India call-up [Source: @auqib_nabi/Instagram]In the quiet of Sheeri village, about eight kilometres from the main town of Baramulla, cricket was not an obvious path to glory. The terrain, marked more by political unrest than playgrounds, offered little in the way of professional infrastructure. It was from this rugged, unforgiving backdrop that a teenage boy, more accustomed to dreaming of football, found himself seduced by the raw thrill of pace bowling. That boy was Auqib Nabi, a name the nation would come to know as the Baramulla Express, one who became the first cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir to be named in an India Test squad.McGrath, Medicine, and a Father’s FearThe first defining crossroad in Auqib’s life came when he was barely an adult, balancing the weight of his Class 12 board examinations with a passion for bowling fast. He was a student of bio-science, and his father, Ghulam Nabi Dar, a government school teacher, had charted a clear, respectable future for his son, which was to crack the medical entrance test and become a doctor.When an opportunity arrived for the teenager to attend a BCCI pace bowling camp coached by the legendary Glenn McGrath, the household hit an impasse. The father was dead against it. To him, letting his son put textbooks aside for cricket was an unacceptable gamble. It took the intervention of Zubair Dar, Auqib Nabi’s first club captain, to pry open a window of possibility. Zubair saw the magnitude of learning from a legend and pleaded with the teacher to relent, arguing that this was a once-in-a-lifetime education that no classroom could offer. The Birth of The Baramulla ExpressLong before the Duleep Trophy heroics or the multi-crore IPL contract, Auqib Nabi was an embodiment of raw, untamed talent. Zubair first spotted the lanky 14-year-old playing for an opposition team against his Baramulla Cricket Club. Even in defeat, the boy stood tall, nearly winning the game single-handedly with both bat and ball. Impressed, Zubair approached him with an offer to join his club.The amateurish nature of his early career was never more evident than the day he stepped onto the Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar, the only turf wicket in the entire Kashmir valley at the time. But as he ran in to deliver his very first ball on the professional surface, his feet skidded treacherously on the popping crease, and he slid embarrassingly down the wicket. His teammates rushed in to find the problem as he was wearing ordinary sneakers, completely unaware that fast bowling required specialised spikes. His naivety was so extreme it almost jeopardised his career. During a period when the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association was split into warring factions, Auqib, blissfully unaware of the politics, attended camps organised by both factions on the same day. He bowled his heart out at one camp in the morning and, upon being told by an official from the rival faction that it would help him play Ranji Trophy, dutifully turned up to bowl again at the University ground in the afternoon.Also Read- Auqib Nabi Gets India Entry: Which Jammu And Kashmir Stars Could Be Next In Line?Auqib Nabi Built By Irfan Pathan And Parvez RasoolRaw enthusiasm needed expert refinement, and Auqib found his guides at critical junctures. Former Jammu and Kashmir captain Parvez Rasool played a massive hand during his formative first-class days. But the true technical catalyst was Irfan Pathan, the former India star, whose mentorship helped transform Auqib from a naive tearaway into a thinking swing bowler. Under this guidance, he developed the ability to move the ball both ways while maintaining the impeccable line and length that would become his trademark.His professional journey began in earnest with a List A debut in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in September 2018, but it was the red ball that truly unveiled his soul. A first-class debut against Jharkhand in January 2020 was followed swiftly by a stunning maiden five-wicket haul against Odisha, a performance that powered Jammu and Kashmir into the quarter-finals. The Record-Breaking Ascent and a Double Hat-TrickThe seasons of 2024-25 and 2025-26 became a coronation for the bowler. In the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy, Auqib was the highest wicket-taking pacer in the country, amassing 44 wickets at a staggering average of 13.93. He had breached the national consciousness, but the best was yet to come.In August 2025, during a Duleep Trophy match for North Zone against East Zone, Auqib achieved something no other bowler had in the tournament's history. In a spell of fiery arms, he took four wickets in four consecutive balls, a double hat-trick. The Baramulla Express was now hurtling down the track at full speed. By December 2025, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy saw Auqib Nabi sharpen his white-ball credentials, snaring 15 wickets and proving he was no one-format wonder. The performance triggered a fierce bidding war at the IPL auction, where Delhi Capitals secured his services for a life-changing INR 8.40 crore. A boy whose father once scraped together Rs 10,000 for a flight was now a multi-millionaire in the world’s richest cricket league!The Maiden Ranji Title And A Dream Too CloseThe 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season was Auqib Nabi’s magnum opus. As pace lead, Nabi shouldered the burden of history, carrying a team that had never tasted ultimate glory. He finished the campaign as the highest wicket-taker in the entire nation, a staggering collection of 60 wickets in just 17 innings at an average of 12.65, including eight five-wicket hauls.When Jammu and Kashmir lifted their maiden Ranji Trophy title in February 2026, the images of Nabi, arms aloft in celebration, became the defining snapshot of Indian domestic cricket. He was the undisputed Player of the Tournament, the architect of an impossible dream.From India A to the Final FrontierThe door to the national team, once a distant mirage, was now being knocked down. A successful tour of Sri Lanka with the India A squad in mid-2026, where he claimed six wickets in two first-class matches, proved his craft translated beyond home shores. He also served as a net bowler for the senior team, a silent audition witnessed by the decision-makers.Then, in August 2026, fate and injury converged to open the ultimate door. Jasprit Bumrah, was ruled out of the Test series in Sri Lanka due to a knee injury. Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy were already sidelined. The team needed a bowler with form, hunger, and a story of resilience. The selectors looked no further than the 29-year-old from Sheeri. Gautam Gambhir & Co. looked at a man who had taken 104 Ranji Trophy wickets across two seasons and had the craft to move the red ball prodigiously.Auqib Nabi Creates History For Jammu and KashmirFor the first time in history, a cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir found a place in India's Test squad. His attitude throughout the process was a masterclass in grace. When overlooked for a series against Afghanistan, he was surrounded by people questioning the snub. His simple, unshakeable reply was that those who were selected were equally good and that his own chance would arrive in due time. That moment had now arrived.The Baramulla Express has completed the longest, most difficult journey in Indian cricket, and as it steams into a Galle stadium for a potential debut on August 15, it carries with it the dreams of a father, a family, and an entire region finally finding its place under the sun.Also Read- How Mohammad Amir's British Citizenship Could Bring An End To His PSL Career