Better Late Than Never: The Long Run-up of Baramulla's Auqib Nabi Dar

New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) Better late than never is a phrase that fits Auqib Nabi Dar like a perfectly-upright seam.

At 29, when most fast bowlers are either established or quietly drifting out of the spotlight, Nabi has finally arrived through patience, persistence and a refusal to let geography decide his fate.

His journey has not followed the straightest of lines, but then neither does the sharp outswinger that has come to define him as he walked away with a whopping deal of Rs 8.40 crore at the IPL auctions in Abu Dhabi.

Nabi hails from Kreeri, a tehsil that sits even farther from Baramulla, both in distance and in access.

It is not the kind of place that produces professional cricketers with ease. Nets are scarce, pitches unpredictable, and exposure almost non-existent.

For a young fast bowler with big dreams, Kreeri offered little by way of infrastructure to grow, sharpen or even be seen. What it did offer was resilience, born out of necessity.

At home, practicality often outweighed romance. His father, Ghulam Nabi Dar, wanted his son to focus on academics, wary of a sport that came with no guarantees, especially in a region where opportunity rarely knocks twice.

Cricket, in those early years, was passion pursued in the margins, squeezed in between studies and responsibilities, fuelled more by stubborn belief than certainty.

It is only over the past two seasons that Auqib Nabi Dar has truly come into his own. The turning point came with a hat-trick in the Duleep Trophy, a spell that announced him to the wider domestic circuit.

Since then, his rise has been steady rather than spectacular, built on control, clarity and an understanding of his own craft.

Former India all-rounder and Jammu & Kashmir's flagbearer Parvez Rasool saw it early.

"He is a very calm head," Rasool told PTI.

"When he came into the J&K side, he always had that game awareness which you can't really teach." Technically, Nabi is an intriguing bowler. He has worked hard on developing a delivery that straightens after pitching, a subtle weapon that repeatedly draws batsmen into misjudgement.

Despite operating around the 130 kmph mark, he maintains a near-perfect seam position, allowing him to hit the bat harder than many would envisage at that pace.

It is not raw speed that defines him, but precision and the discomfort it creates.

That skill-set has been on full display this season, particularly in red-ball cricket against heavyweights Mumbai and Delhi.

On surfaces that reward discipline more than theatrics, Nabi has been relentless, probing channels, building pressure and letting mistakes come to him. Rasool believes that foundation is key.

"Apne kaam se kaam rakhne wala ladka hai (He minds his own business)," he says. "Red-ball ke basics acche hai (he has strong red-ball basics) and that's why he also has a lot of control while bowling at the death in shorter formats." Now, with a whopping IPL deal to his name, the first player from the Valley to achieve that milestone, Nabi's journey has taken on a larger meaning.

It is no longer just his story.

"This is a path-breaker for J&K cricket," feels Rasool. "It will definitely encourage our boys to believe that it's possible." From the quiet fields of Kreeri to the brightest stage in Indian cricket, Auqib Nabi Dar has shown that sometimes, arriving late only makes the destination sweeter. PTI KHS AM KHS AM AM