2025-26 Ranji Trophy Final A moment occurred at the KSCA Ground in Hubli which cricket fans will never forget. There was a historic clash between the two on Saturday Jammu and Kashmir (Jammu and Kashmir) And Karnataka Reaching its peak, the crowd noticed an anomaly: the star batsman and the wicketkeeper KL Rahul Handed the ball to move his hand up. As J&K stood on the brink of its first title, Karnataka’s frustration led to a viral moment that took social media by storm.
KL Rahul turns bowler during Ranji Trophy final 2025-26 in Hubli
The game is slipping away from the hands of eight-time champion Karnataka. Devdutt Padikkal Made an unconventional call to include Rahul in the attack during the 81st over of Jammu and Kashmir’s second innings. Rahul was usually seen taking off his cap to bowl slow off-spin with the right arm behind the stumps or in the slips, which was cheered loudly by the Hubli crowd.
Especially the 83rd over became the highlight of the day. well-set facing Sahil Lotra and centurion Qamran IqbalRahul conceded 12 runs in a sequence that demonstrated both his experimental loop delivery and his dominance as a batsman.
On the first ball of the over (82.1), Rahul bowled a light full toss on middle and off. Lottra didn’t miss the invitation and cleared his front foot and hit the ball for a sky-high six over wide long-on. The very next ball (82.2) provided a rare opportunity; A back-of-a-length delivery induced a thick outside edge from Lottra, but the opportunity was squandered Mayank Agarwal On the first slip.
Iqbal continued to show his class in this over. At 82.4, Iqbal latched onto a short ball and lofted it past mid-off for four. By the end of his two-over spell, Rahul’s figures were 2-0-15-0, providing a brief, entertaining interlude in an otherwise grueling final.
Here is the video:
We made KL Rahul bowl pic.twitter.com/HqBRwbpKID
– Sadha (@sadha2525) 28 February 2026
Jammu and Kashmir headed towards creating history in Ranji Trophy final
While the viral clip of Rahul’s bowling grabbed the internet’s attention, the real story remained Jammu and Kashmir’s clinical dominance. Entering the finals as first time participants Paras DograThe -led team has troubled the domestic giants in their own backyard.
Total 584 runs in J&K’s first innings, in headlines -Shubham Pundir121, raised a very high mountain to climb for Karnataka. Despite Agarwal’s struggling innings of 160 runs, Karnataka were bowled out for 293 runs thanks to a sensational five-wicket haul from the season’s leading wicket-taker. Auqib Nabi (5/54).
By the morning of the fifth day, Jammu and Kashmir had increased their lead to 576 runs. Iqbal started the second innings with a brilliant 114 (214b), with Lottra supporting him with 63 (143b). Their partnership of over 100 effectively dashed any hopes of a Karnataka miracle.
With the scoreboard reading 285/4 in the second innings and the combined lead more than 575, the perennial underdogs from the North are just hours away from getting their name registered in the prestigious Ranji Trophy for the first time.
See also: Auqib Nabi dismissed KL Rahul with a brilliant ball in the Ranji Trophy final.