IPL Auction: Late-bloomer Auqib Nabi adds in-swinger to become J&K's highest-paid player in the league

NEW DELHI: Auqib Nabi had become numb to IPL auctions, facing rejections year after year despite his enviable numbers in domestic cricket. At 29, his moment finally arrived on Tuesday when Delhi Capitals bought him for Rs 8.4-crore to make him the highest-priced cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir.

His journey from only playing amateurish tennis-ball cricket till 17 in the valleys of Baramulla to becoming a sought-after medium pacer is a product of J&K’s much-improved infrastructure.

Unlike Umran Malik — the other big name to emerge from J&K’s pace stable — Nabi isn’t a tearaway pacer. He is a workhorse who goes quietly on about his business. The India ‘A’ call-ups also haven’t happened for him and this season, he decided to keep expectations at bay.

He never forgets to remind himself that he was a reluctant professional player till the age of 17. He went for U-19 trials in Srinagar only after a friend coaxed him to do so. Then the system polished him, starting with former India allrounder Irfan Pathan, who worked as his mentor.Nabi started the 2025-26 season with one motto: “Don’t think about IPL.” He didn’t mind conceding, though, that he would love to start an academy in Baramulla if he ever made money from the IPL.

Nabi doesn’t have the raw pace to excite many. What he did was quietly add layers to his bowling. “I don’t think much about bowling speed. I have a few things that many people don’t have. I don’t look at the speedometer,” he had said during the Ranji match in the Capital last month.

Those few things are the in-swinger and a reverse-swinging yorker aimed at the stumps. “I developed the in-swing myself. Earlier, I bowled just the outswing,” Nabi said, “I watch videos of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj on how to bowl on flat wickets,” he had said, “No one is better on Indian pitches.” This is where J&K’s system comes into play. “After the season gets over, the JKCA camp starts immediately. We constantly discuss with coaches about new things and analyse the previous season. After that, practice starts,” Nabi said. His journey is one of perseverance. For someone with negligible exposure in formative years, the IPL price tag speaks of Indian cricket’s far-reaching system