I have played the best knock in my career so far, says elated Iqbal after J&K’s win over Delhi

New Delhi, Nov 11 Just after 11:30am at a near-empty Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday, Qamran Iqbal pierced the infield with a fierce cut and got the boundary that sealed Jammu & Kashmir’s historic seven-wicket win over Delhi on the final day of their Elite Group D Ranji Trophy clash.

J&K completing their first-ever win over Delhi in the competition’s 91-year history was led by Iqbal, who had steadied the chase in a tense final hour on day three and then converted it into an elegant, unbeaten 133 off 147 balls – also his first century in first-class cricket.

For Iqbal, who had an inconsistent run and got out for 14 in first innings, the unbeaten 133 could well turn out to be his breakthrough innings. “I think I have the best knock in my career so far. It has been a small career for me, but this is my best knock till date. Before I came out to bat in the second innings, our coaches told me to play my game freely.”

“Anyway, it was a short target, so that's what they told me – play freely. I wanted us to never be under pressure and runs keep coming from one side – so it felt really good to do that. It looked like there would be less bounce, but I was thinking that I would focus on playing my normal game,” said an elated Iqbal in an exclusive conversation with IANS.

With his free-flowing strokeplay and one-handed shots, Iqbal easily got on top of Delhi’s bowling line-up. “Actually, it's natural for me to play one handed shots. Sometimes, my bottom hand comes out a little. It's natural for me to play those shots,” he said.

Asked what skipper and domestic batting stalwart Paras Dogra said to him after hitting winning run, Iqbal said, “Yes, Paras bhaiya was very happy and he was saying ‘well played’ after I hit the winning shot. Overall, as a team, we were very happy that we got the outright victory here. Paras bhaiya was very happy at that time when I hit the winning shot.”

In the moment of this historic win, Iqbal was quick to acknowledge the role of Auqib Nabi and Vanshaj Sharma taking crucial five-for and six-for respectively. “Yes, they were also very important, especially on the third day. It was very important to bowl them out early in the evening. In the first innings as well, it was a good effort for the bowlers to dismiss them quickly.”

The dominant win on Tuesday reinforced J&K’s rising stature in domestic cricket. Having already beaten Mumbai twice in last three first-class meetings, J&K adding a win over Delhi, the seven-time Ranji Trophy champions in the national capital, underlined how the gulf between small sides and traditional heavyweights is being narrowed.

Iqbal attributed much of the team's success to an enhanced pre-season preparation under administrators, former Delhi and J&K cricketer Mithun Manhas (before he became BCCI President on September 28), Brigadier Anil Gupta and Sunil Sethi.

“This time our pre-season preparation was very good. The administrators helped us start our pre-season very well. They made us play a lot of matches, made us practice a lot. We also went to play Buchi Babu tournament, where we reached the semi-finals.”

“We then played practice matches against Punjab and Railways teams. Our team played well in the last season as well. So we are doing well a lot of times and the team is confident,” he added.

Head coach Ajay Sharma's local knowledge proved invaluable, which was evident from how the side chanted ‘Ajju bhai’ loudly. “He is a legend of the game. He knows everything and keeps giving his advice. So it was very good.”

“Sir was saying that if the wicket is low on day four, then how we have to play was a very important advice. He was telling me every day that he has a lot of idea of playing here. So he was giving very proper advice on how the ground will play, and what the conditions will be on a given day. So that also helped a lot.”

Based in Srinagar’s Karan Nagar, Iqbal has been play for J&K since U14 and had a brief stint in India U19 team. “Since childhood, I was interested in playing cricket and began playing from school days. Then I started going for trials and since then, have been playing cricket,” he said.

With J&K set to host Hyderabad in the next round of Ranji Trophy in Jammu before the break in the competition comes, Iqbal signed off by saying the win over Delhi will help maintain the momentum gained at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

“Now we have an advantage at home. If we play positively, we will have a good momentum. Our aim in this season’s domestic tournaments is to win as many matches as possible and hopefully lift the trophy. This time, our aim is to be positive and give our best effort in every match. Hopefully, we will do well in all the matches.”

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