Auqib Nabi Dar is on the cusp of becoming a part of a very elite list — one of the handful of players from J&K to play in the IPL. At the IPL 2026 auction, DC broke the bank to get the right-arm pacer for a massive 8.40 Cr INR, and Wednesday could just be the day when he plays his first in the league, when DC take on LSG in Lucknow.
For a very long time, Parvez Rasool remained the only player from the state to play in the IPL, but over the last 6-7 years, players from J&K have become a regular part of the teams. There is Abdul Samad, Umran Malik, Rasikh Salam Dar, Yudhvir Singh Charak, and also Manzoor Dar.
Among handful of J&K players to get IPL contracts
So, what is so special about Auqib Nabi, that he is being talked about so much? Well, there isn’t a straight answer to it, but there are a few layers. For starters, he finished as the highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 — 60 scalps, and took his team to maiden trophy.
At 29, he has just shown that with the right skillset, one can really break barriers, and without any doubt, he has to be one of the more promising pace-bowling domestic prospects in the country. But that debate is for later, as to what value he can add to the Indian team; let us look at what value can he add to DC.
Delhi Capitals look like a team who don’t have the resources in the pace bowling department — that is, if Mitchell Starc isn’t around to play in a few matches. Then the team is pretty much left with Chameera, Mukesh Kumar, T Natarajan. So that automatically puts Nabi in the spotlight, to deliver.
Better than DC pacers at disposal?
Just for comparison sake, Nattu has an IPL economy of 8.93, which swelled to 16.33 last year. In fact, since 2022, he economy has never been below 9. Mukesh Kumar lags behind with an IPL economy rate of 10.33, where in 2025 was his best year, with an economy of 10.32. As for Lankan Chameera, he is not good either; last year economy was at 11.40, and the year before that it was 16.
While Nabi, who should be making his IPL debut soon, has an economy rate of 7.74 in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In fact this year alone he had 15 wickets in 7 matches, at an economy of 7.41. So, it is truly his moment to shine in the league. Yes, here the competition will be a lot stiffer, but then the bowler from Kashmir has put in the hard yards in domestic cricket already, and is no newbie.
Apart from his SMAT exploits, he has 156 FC wickets and 56 List A wickets to his name — which paint the correct picture. If he can put up a good show in the first few matches, where Starc is not there, it would not take him long to graduate to the second-in-command of the Aussie, which in turn would be very beneficial for his India hopes.
Why Auqib Nabi could be a big success in IPL?
A couple of factors will play a crucial role. He is certainly starting out late, so given time is a constraint for him, he would try to make the most of every opportunity that comes his way. Other than that, not many can swing the ball both ways, and Auqib Nabi, in the first few overs can swing it both ways.
He can bowl in the powerplay, and death too, which is what he does for J&K — 3 overs upfront and then 1 at the death. In the words of his coach Krishnakumar, he has excellent accuracy and has even developed a lethal back-of-the-hand slower one. Just a piece of stat as to how good he can be — in the death overs in SMAT — his economy is only a little over 11, whereas 31% of the deliveries are dots.
All this, combined with lack of resources at DC’s disposal, should be reason enough to get him to play a good chunk of matches at IPL 2026. Not to mention, just playing in the IPL is not the only goal, but to wear India colours, just like any other player in the country.
DC full squad: Axar Patel (c), KL Rahul, Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Karun Nair, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Madhav Tiwari, Tripurana Vijay, Ajay Mandal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera. Traded in: Nitish Rana (traded from RR).
