Srinagar has not hosted an international since 1986, and Jammu and Kashmir bring the Irani Cup there without Auqib Nabi

The last time a crowd at Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium watched cricket of this weight, Kapil Dev’s India were playing Allan Border’s Australia in a one-day international. That was on 9 September 1986. On Thursday the Sonwar ground hosts the Irani Cup for the first time, and the home side walks out as national champions.

Jammu and Kashmir play Rest of India from 1 to 5 October in the 63rd edition of the fixture. It is their first Irani Cup appearance, earned by winning the Ranji Trophy in the first final they ever played.

How they got here

J&K had never reached a Ranji final in 67 years of playing the competition. When they finally got there, in Hubballi in February, they did not leave Karnataka much room. A first-innings lead of 291 was enough to settle the title, and by the time Paras Dogra called his batters in, J&K were 342 for 4 in their second innings and 633 runs ahead.

Qamran Iqbal finished unbeaten on 160 and Sahil Lotra on 101. Karnataka are an eight-time champion. It did not look like a first final.

The bowler they will not have

The awkward part of this week for J&K is who is missing. Auqib Nabi was the player of the tournament in that Ranji season, with 60 wickets, and he is now in India’s ODI squad for the West Indies series. He will not be in Srinagar.

That leaves a hole in a seam attack that was built around him. The 18 players called up for the preparatory camp, which opened at the stadium on 24 September, include Umran Malik, Umar Nazir, Abid Mushtaq and Waseem Bashir. Iqbal, Lotra and Abdul Samad are there too, and so is Dogra, who is 41 and expected to lead the side again. The final squad had not been named when the camp began.

Pant arrives with a point to make

Rest of India are captained by Rishabh Pant, who was left out of that same ODI squad and sent to this game instead. Sarfaraz Khan is his vice-captain. Mukesh Kumar brings Test experience to the attack, with Akash Deep named subject to fitness, and Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain and Anukul Roy give him spin options.

It is a squad of players pushing for India places, which is what the Irani Cup usually produces. For Pant, it is five days of red-ball cricket in front of the selectors after a Sri Lanka tour in which a short ball from Lahiru Kumara hit him on the wrist in Colombo and sent him off retired hurt.

A ground getting ready for television

The stadium has been fitted out for a live broadcast, with the Decision Review System, six Hawk-Eye cameras and a 20-camera setup. The match is on Star Sports and JioHotstar. When the Irani Cup is over, J&K stay at the same ground for a Ranji Trophy game against Madhya Pradesh.

J&K won their title away from home, in front of a Hubballi crowd. This time the crowd is theirs. They will need it, because Pant’s side looks the deeper one on paper and J&K’s best bowler is away with India’s ODI squad.

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