Cricket fan travels from U.K. to Hubballi for Ranji Trophy final

For the last two decades, 65-year-old Yorkshire County Cricket club fan Ian has been following Ranji Trophy matches. In the period between October and April every year, he comes down to Goa and then visits stadiums around India to watch Ranji matches.

Karnataka’s Prasidh Krishna celebrates after claiming the wicket of Jammu & Kashmir’s Yawer Hassan on the first day of the Ranji Trophy final cricket match between Karnataka and Jammu & Kashmir, at KSCA Cricket Stadium, in Hubballi, Karnataka, on February 24, 2026.

On February 24, Ian was in the makeshift stand, behind the sight screen on the non-pavilion end, watching the first day of the Ranji Trophy final between Karnataka and Jammu & Kashmir at the KSCA Stadium in Raj Nagar, Hubballi. 

“I arrived by train from Goa today morning at 4 a.m. I waited in the Hubbali Railway Station till daybreak before coming down to the  stadium,” he told The Hindu. He was sitting with spectators in one of the four makeshift stands, meant for those who paid ₹100. He held a pair of binoculars to watch Jammu & Kashmir batsmen face the Karnataka bowlers.

Sitting alongside Ian was software engineer Bharath Gowda from Bengaluru, who too is a keen Ranji match follower. Seated next to him were cricket buffs Rahul Nayak and Venkat Kalyan, second-year MSc (Agriculture) students from Dharwad. 

UK citizen Ian and software engineer Bharath Gowda from Bengaluru watching the first day of the Ranji Trophy final between Karnataka and Jammu & Kashmir from a makeshift stand at the KSCA stadium in Hubballi on February 24, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
Raghava M.

A good number of students undergoing cricket coaching in Hubballi and other parts of the State, and several cricket enthusiasts, watched the match on February 24. 

Class 8 student Vinayak and Class 7 student Shrinivas came along with their father Prakash Reddy all the way from Koppal, which is 120 km away from Hubballi. Class 8 student Diya from DK Public school, who was finding it hard to see players from the makeshift stand, switched on her moblie phone to follow the match. 

Some of students undergoing cricket coaching volunteered as ball boys.

Jammu Kashmir batsman Yudhvir Singh Charak was seen obliging spectators by signing autographs on T-shirts and small bats before the start of the game.

There were separate entries for fans who purchased tickets priced ₹200 a piece and ₹100 a piece from Gate No. 3 and Gate No. 4, respectively. The tickets were being issued in front of the two gates.