'A proud moment for me and the entire Jammu Kashmir team'- Irfan Pathan after J&K qualifies for the quarter-finals of Ranji Trophy

History was made on the final day of the league stage of the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy edition when Jammu Kashmir qualified for the quarter-finals for the very first time since 2013-14 despite losing their final league-stage game against Haryana by two wickets.

After having taken a 49-run lead over Haryana in the first innings courtesy Mujtaba Yousuf’s 6/49, Jammu & Kashmir missed the opportunity to register their seventh outright win in the competition when they were bowled out for 174 in their second essay of batting. 

Haryana, at one stage, were reeling at 7-119 after skipper Parvez Rasool ran through their middle-order with a five-wicket haul [5-72] but Rohit Parmod Sharma’s unbeaten 75 and an equally valiant 47-ball 27 by Rahul Tewatia ensured that Haryana romped home by two wickets. Regardless of the result, Jammu Kashmir was basking in the glory of becoming the first side from the region to qualify in the final-8 since 2013-14. 

And, no wonder Irfan Pathan, whose sole passion in the past few years is to endure Jammu Kashmir steadily rises to the upper echelon of Indian domestic cricket, is ecstatic.

Pathan took to Twitter to express his feelings and wrote: “A proud moment for me and the entire Jammu Kashmir cricket team as we qualify for the knockouts! This news is very special to me as it’s the 3rd time in the history of Ranji trophy! Way to go boys…” #JammuKashmir #ranjitrophy #cricket

Jammu & Kashmir’s fairytale season continues

Pathan has played a key role in mentoring, nurturing and ensuring that the cricketers from J&K get the optimum level of match and season preparation. 

Abdul Samad- the sides’ leading run-scorer (547 runs in 15 innings at 42.07 with two hundreds and three half-centuries)– opened up how Irfan gave him and the entire squad the best of season preparation by moving their camp to Baroda.

“Irfan bhai shifted the camp from Kashmir and Baroda. So, it really helped a lot, and the whole team practiced there,” Samad had said in an exclusive interview with CricTracker.

But, the season isn’t over yet. And, both Samad and Irfan will hope that the whirlwind form continues when they take on heavyweights Karnataka in Jammu in the third Quarter-final, starting February 20th.

Watch: Irfan Pathan’s interview post his retirement