Jammu & Kashmir player Auqib Nabi senses a shift ahead of the upcoming IPL 2026 auction in Abu Dhabi on December 16 after drawing trial interest from Delhi Capitals (DC) and Mumbai Indians (MI).
10 franchises will compete to accommodate a total of 77 players from 350 shortlisted players, including 224 uncapped Indian players and 14 uncapped overseas stars.
Despite his consistent exploits in domestic cricket across formats, Nabi failed to secure recognition and reward, which taught him to expect nothing from the IPL auction. However, he admitted that this time around it’s a different feeling.
“It feels different, but I’m not able to point a finger at any one specific reason. It’s very tough when you keep performing well and still get no recognition. It’s deflating. But it has taught me to be mentally strong. But you can’t tell anything. If it doesn’t happen, it’s fine. I’m used to it. I’ll work even harder. This year… there’s some excitement.”
Auqib Nabi has picked up 15 wickets in seven matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025 at an impressive economy of 7.41. In his very recent outing, Nabi hammered 32 runs off 21 balls with the bat against Madhya Pradesh before picking a three-wicket haul to seal the game for his side.
The SMAT exploits came on the back of an exceptional first leg of the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy, where he emerged as the only pacer among the top-five wicket-takers with 29 wickets in nine innings at an average of 13.27, including three five-wicket hauls.
Last season’s Ranji exploits were even more staggering, bagging 44 wickets at a remarkable average of 13.93, second most wickets in the edition after Harsh Dubey’s record-breaking 69. On the back of this stunning run, Nabi earned a place in the North Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy, where he announced himself with four wickets in four balls against East Zone.
Auqib Nabi expressed his frustration regarding continued ignorance from the selectors and franchises, crediting his recent limelight to his hat-trick in the Duleep Trophy 2025.
“[During] Ranji last season, nobody even spoke of me. I had six five-fors and was among the best pacers. But it was only after this Duleep [Trophy] match, where I took four [wickets] in four [balls] that I got the recognition. Even though it was in a red-ball match, a record is a record,” he added.
While Auqib Nabi kept producing match-winning spells in domestic cricket, he finally started to receive calls from IPL franchises and has already attended trials conducted by DC and five-time champions MI, while a few others were in the pipeline, but clashed with SMAT games.
Nabi’s performance over the two seasons is now slowly being recognised. The 29-year-old is expected to attract bids from multiple franchises. He is set to feature in the UAL1 set, and his base price will be 30 lakhs.
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