Ranji Trophy 2025–26: J&K beat Madhya Pradesh to reach maiden semifinal

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) scripted history on Monday, 9 February 2026, by qualifying for their maiden Ranji Trophy semifinal after defeating former champions Madhya Pradesh by 56 runs in the quarterfinal at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. The landmark achievement came 67 years after J&K first appeared in the tournament in 1959.

The historic win was headlined by a sensational match performance from pacer Auqib Nabi, who returned career-best figures of 12 for 110, including 7/40 in the first innings and 5/70 in the second.

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J&K were bowled out for 194 in their first innings, with Shubham Khajuria top-scoring with 60. Kuldeep Sen led the charge for MP with a five-wicket haul, while Kartikeya also chipped in with three wickets. In reply, Madhya Pradesh were skittled for 152, with Nabi’s devastating spell giving J&K a 42-run first-innings lead.

J&K then suffered early setbacks in their second innings, slipping to 73/5 before a crucial lower-order fightback led by Abid Mushtaq (41) and Vanshraj Sharma (54*). A vital 65-run last-wicket partnership between Sunil Kumar and Yudhvir Singh pushed the total to 248, setting MP a target of 291.

Chasing the target, Madhya Pradesh began Day 4 at 87/5 but lost Venkatesh Iyer early. Saransh Jain kept their hopes alive with a fighting 64, while Kuldeep Sen and Aryan Pandey added a last-wicket stand of 23 runs to delay the inevitable. However, Nabi struck again to wrap up the innings, while Yudhvir Singh sealed the win by dismissing Pandey, handing J&K a historic victory.

J&K will face Bengal in the second semifinal starting 15 February 2026. Bengal qualified after securing a massive first-innings lead over Andhra. The other semifinal will feature Uttarakhand against Karnataka.

Brief Scores

Jammu & Kashmir: 194 (Khajuria 60; Sen 5/66, Kartikeya 3/26) and 248 (Vanshraj 54*, Mushtaq 41; Sen 4/65)
Madhya Pradesh: 152 (Dubey 58; Nabi 7/40, Sunil 3/47) and 234 (Saransh 64; Nabi 5/70, Mushtaq 3/49)