{"id":321418,"date":"2025-12-17T18:47:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T18:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/321418\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T18:47:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T18:47:21","slug":"rejected-by-5-ipl-teams-no-spikes-to-play-kashmirs-dale-steyn-now-mitchell-starcs-partner-with-inr-8-4-crore-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/321418\/","title":{"rendered":"Rejected by 5 IPL teams, no spikes to play, Kashmir’s Dale Steyn now Mitchell Starc’s partner with INR 8.4 crore deal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Auqib Nabi Dar<\/a> runs in to bowl with the new ball for Delhi Capitals, alongside Mitchell Starc, it will mark one of the most unlikely journeys in recent Indian cricket. \u20b98.40 crore”>Picked up for a staggering \u20b98.40 crore<\/a> at the IPL mini-auction in Abu Dhabi \u2014 a 28-fold jump from his base price of \u20b930 lakh \u2014 the \u201cDale Steyn of Kashmir\u201d arrives at the biggest stage not as a prodigy, but as a hardened domestic warhorse.<\/p>\n

\u20b98.40 crore IPL auction in Abu Dhabi(PTI)” title=”Cricketer Auqib Nabi Dar was bought by Delhi Capitals for \u20b98.40 crore IPL auction in Abu Dhabi(PTI)” \/> \"Cricketer\u20b98.40 crore IPL auction in Abu Dhabi(PTI)” title=”Cricketer Auqib Nabi Dar was bought by Delhi Capitals for \u20b98.40 crore IPL auction in Abu Dhabi(PTI)” \/> Cricketer Auqib Nabi Dar was bought by Delhi Capitals for \u20b98.40 crore IPL auction in Abu Dhabi(PTI) <\/p>\n

Nabi\u2019s rise has been forged through rejection and repetition. Over the years, he attended trials for at least five or six IPL franchises \u2014 Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders, Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad \u2014 without landing a contract. Even Delhi Capitals<\/a> had shown interest last year, calling him for trials, but he couldn\u2019t attend due to a state camp. When his name finally came up again at this year\u2019s auction, multiple teams passed before DC entered a four-way bidding war and went all in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve given trials for MI, RR, KKR, GT and SRH. Last year, DC called me but I couldn\u2019t go. I want to play in the IPL \u2014 it will help me achieve my dream of starting an academy in Baramulla,\u201d Nabi was quoted as saying by timesofindia.com.<\/p>\n

That dream is deeply rooted in where he comes from. Raised in Baramulla, Nabi grew up in a household where academics were non-negotiable. His father, Gulam Nabi Dar, is an English teacher in a government school and envisioned a very different future for his son.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was good in studies, and my father\u2019s dream was that I would become a doctor,\u201d Nabi recalls.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father used to tell me that studies were important. He was really upset when I started playing cricket. After I got picked for U-19, he began supporting me. Before that, he was against it. Now he\u2019s my biggest fan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cricket, at first, was casual. Gully matches with a tennis ball, no proper grounds, no awareness of what professional fast bowling demanded.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it all started with gully cricket. We never had any proper ground. I didn\u2019t even know that a fast bowler needed spikes,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

That reality hit him hard at his first JKCA trial in Jammu.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was shell-shocked. I was wearing sports shoes worth \u20b9500,\u201d Nabi remembers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I borrowed spikes from a senior player.\u201d<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t selected. For two or three years, rejection followed. When he finally made the J&K U-19 side in 2016 \u2014 his last eligible year \u2014 it was for four-day cricket, not the one-day format. The Cooch Behar Trophy proved decisive.<\/p>\n

That dream was sustained by relentless performances for Jammu and Kashmir. Nabi\u2019s breakthrough came with a Vijay Hazare Trophy debut in 2018, though injury stalled his progress. His Ranji Trophy debut followed in 2020, and since then he has been J&K\u2019s go-to fast bowler across formats.<\/p>\n

In the 2024\u201325 Ranji Trophy, Nabi picked up 44 wickets in eight matches \u2014 the second-highest tally that season \u2014 playing a central role in Jammu and Kashmir\u2019s run to the quarterfinals, where they were edged out by Kerala on a one-run first-innings lead. Earlier in the 2025\u201326 Ranji season, he claimed 29 wickets in nine innings, including three five-wicket hauls and a sensational 7 for 24 against Rajasthan, making him the only seamer among the top five wicket-takers in the first half of the tournament.<\/p>\n

His white-ball returns have matched his red-ball consistency. At the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Nabi took 15 wickets in seven matches at an economy rate of 7.41. In his most recent outing against Madhya Pradesh, he struck a quick 32 off 21 balls before returning figures of three wickets to seal a 13-run win for J&K.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarlier, he had a good outswinger, but he wasn\u2019t confident with the inswinger and other deliveries. I told him he had a brilliant wrist position. I said that if he worked on his skills, in two years he would be in the big leagues,\u201d his coach told Hindustan Times. \u201cThere were no big changes in his action. We worked on small tactical and mental aspects. When I told him something and he applied it, it worked. That builds belief.\u201d<\/p>\n

That belief has been reinforced by recognition at the highest domestic levels. During the Duleep Trophy, Nabi picked up a five-for for North Zone, earning encouragement from fast-bowling partners Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana.<\/p>\n

In the Ranji Trophy opener against Mumbai, selector Ajay Ratra, present at the Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium, personally appreciated Nabi after a five-wicket haul in the second innings.<\/p>\n

As Delhi Capitals prepare to hand him the new ball at the Feroz Shah Kotla, the fast bowler once known for borrowing spikes arrives with the weight of numbers, resilience and years of rejection behind him \u2014 and with a journey that domestic cricket never forgot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Auqib Nabi Dar runs in to bowl with the new ball for Delhi Capitals, alongside Mitchell Starc,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1721,57488,94414,28017,27570,48672,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-321418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-cricket","tag-delhi-capitals","tag-fast-bowler","tag-ipl-auction","tag-jammu-and-kashmir","tag-ranji-trophy","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}