Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler Auqib Nabi has scripted history in the Duleep Trophy with his spectacular performance for North Zone in the ongoing quarter-final match against East Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground in Bengaluru on Friday, August 29.
The 28-year-old pacer from Baramulla stunned everyone with his jaw-dropping hat trick and joined the elite list of Indian legends like Kapil Dev. Nabi achieved the milestone in the 53rd over of East Zone’s innings in the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2025 quarter-final in Bengaluru on Friday.
Auqib Nabi wrecks East Zone with five-wicket haul in Duleep Trophy 2025
Auqib Nabi wreaked havoc on the East Zone’s batting lineup with his record hat trick. Suraj Jaiswal was caught by the North Zone wicket-keeper Kanhaiya Wadhawan for 10, followed by Manishi being trapped leg-before for a golden duck, and Mukhtar Hussain was also clean-bowled for the golden duck.
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His brilliant spell also saw him dismiss the well-set East Zone batter Virat Singh for 69 and veteran pacer Mohammed Shami for just 1, as he finished with an incredible five-wicket haul.
Earlier, Nabi also showed his batting skills by scoring a quick 44 off 33 balls to help his team, North Zone, post 405 runs on the board in their first innings against East Zone in the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2025 quarter-final at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground.
Auqib Nabi achieves a rare feat in the Duleep Trophy
By dismissing Kanhaiya Wadhawan, Manishi, and Mukhtar Hussain with back-to-back deliveries, Auqib Nabi becomes only the third bowler to achieve a hat trick in Duleep Trophy history, joining the legendary Kapil Dev and Sairaj Bahutule.
The 1983 World Cup-winning captain, Kapil Dev, was the first one to reach this milestone. The legendary all-rounder achieved this feat while representing North Zone against West Zone at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla during the 1978/79 season.
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Later, Sairaj Bahutule repeated this achievement for the West Zone against the East Zone at Pune’s Nehru Stadium in the 2000/01 season.
J&K Auqib Nabi creates history in #DuleepTrophy, takes hat-trick (4 wickets in 4 balls). He was the highest wicket-taking fast-bowler in #RanjiTrophy this year as well. Plus made 44 in 33 balls with the bat earlier pic.twitter.com/AIz5Z2dcWb
— Mohsin Kamal (@64MohsinKamal) August 29, 2025
Auqib Nabi shines across formats in domestic cricket
Meanwhile, Auqib Nabi is emerging as one of India’s most promising fast bowlers. In just 29 first-class matches, the 28-year-old bowler has bowled nearly 4,000 deliveries, taken 90 wickets at an impressive average of 22.12, and had the best figures of 6/53 and 10/74.
His wickets came at a tight economy rate of 2.98 and a strike rate of 44.4. Nabi has also claimed eight five-wicket hauls and two ten-wicket hauls in red-ball cricket. He has also been impressive in the shorter formats. In 29 List A matches, Nabi has picked up 42 wickets at a strong average of 28.88.
Nabi’s economy rate of 5.07 and a strike rate of 34.1 highlight his ability to trouble batters consistently in the shorter format of the game. In the same match, Mohammed Shami scalped only one wicket while conceding 100 runs in 23 overs against the North Zone in the first innings.
