J&K reach their first ever Ranji Trophy final; Abdul Samad, Vanshaj Sharma seal semis with sixes for 6-wicket win over Bengal

Not again – he seemed to have decided.

Joining southpaw Vanshaj Sharma, who was batting sedately, Samad broughtbhis T20 adventurous flair to what could’ve been a nervy chase. Empty stadia are not new for even those best of Ranji teams. But J&K assign duties to dismissed batsmen to yell their hearts out, and usually hope stadium acoustics echo their war-cries. The Kalyani ground, satellite of Kolkata, was open-air with no stands to bounce their voices off, but on the cusp of the final, they created enough of a din to mimic a large throbbing cheering contingent.

Samad got the team score into the 80s at a quick clip, and then went after Bengal’s biggest threat Akash Deep, pilfering 18 runs in his 15th and the team’s 30th over, including a six over mid-on.

When Bengal brought on the lanky Shahbaz Ahmed, he tonked him for two more to drive him out of the attack. He was hitting both inside out and over his pet mid-on zone, and the first took him to 98, and by the time the over was done, pressure had eased. They say “pressure-vessure” doesn’t strike Samad, a deeply mature batter originally known as the ‘Hot Spring of Kalakote’, but having grown up in Jammu. He had helped captain Paras Dogra negotiate a tricky phase in the first innings after Shami had rocket them to 13-3, with a 143-run partnership. His 82 off 85 had come in a similarly pressure-neutralising atmosphere.

As J&K saw the finish line within their grasp, Samad had done enough to embolden the tall Vanshaj, who picked Jaiswal for three finely struck boundaries, before he finished with a glorious straight six to earn them their first final. “We deserved it,” as player of the match Auqib Nabi put it.

J&K’s two breakout seasons have had milestones of beating big-name teams at home, and overturning Bengal at home, completes their marching stomp into the final, where they will most likely play Karnataka.

Captain Dogra, who came in a few years ago from Himachal owing to his heritage, has been a stabilise influence on the team – not a hard-nosed dictating senior, but a leader with empathy, proud of the opportunity he was handed, and self-effacing to realise the team of very talented and driven men needed delicate handling, light shepherding. The scoldings were left to coaches Ajay Sharma, while bowling coach P Krishna Kumar, another hardworking pro from Rajasthan, and Dogra, gently chipped away at the rough edges of temperament and technique, and kept them positive.

A bulk of the team’s management have also previously been coaches bringing in hands on experience to admin.

“It was a small target in the morning, but we needed a good partnership to see it through. My partnership with Abdul in first innings had been enjoyable too because it’s always good to bat with him, he’s always positive,” Dogra, who completed 10000 career first class runs, said. The team wasn’t too frazzled by the first innings lead slipping away. “There were 2.5 days left, and it was only a small first innings lead. We were positive but we didn’t expect they would fold up so quickly (99) in second innings,” he added.

Pacer Auqib Nabi has stamped his class and confident poise on the team, and he finished with 9 wickets. Crucially, he frustrated Shami & Co in the first innings with a handy 42 and triggered a collapse in Bengal’s second. “We work hard on our batting, and last 4-5 players regularly add 150 runs to the score. We don’t ignore batting,” he said.

On fortifying their confidence when facing Bengal, he said, “We had decided after last year that we will not go out of the competition again. We knew such opportunities don’t come often. Now we will final too. We deserve it,” he said, with a force of their collective will.

The confidence to skittle the hosts for 99 despite losing the first innings lead, had come from their first innings bowling show. “Other teams had scored 600 on this pitch, sk when we restricted them for 300 odd, we felt positive about how we had bowled,” he told the post match presenter. On his own bowling he said he kept it simple. “Channel mein ball daalo, without bothering about results. Just observe batsmen, but I don’t think too much,” said the skilled bowler, who’s performed consistently against every team and in all three formats.

The all rounder bound for Delhi Capitals took home a cheque of Rs 50,000 for his showing. It may not compare to the IPL riches, but it’s brought them closer to the dream. “At the start of the season from Day 1 we had decided we have to win Ranji Trophy,” Dogra said. Now, the home stretch to glory away from home, the toughest test at the end, lies ahead.