Defeat in last season’s quarterfinal spurred the team: J & K coach Ajay Sharma

Life came full circle for Paras Dogra on Saturday (February 28, 2026).

It was at this very ground in 2013 that he made his debut for India-A – in a star-studded team that also had Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan – against West Indies-A.

Little would he have imagined that he would lift his maiden Ranji Trophy title at the same venue, in the second season as captain of his adopted home Jammu & Kashmir, in the third decade of his domestic career.

“I still remember… yeah… but never thought we are going to be champions in this ground,” Dogra said. “I just can’t, can’t, can’t explain to be honest. It has been a very long journey.

“But I got hope last year when we reached the quarterfinal. So I have always been pushing every player and myself. And it worked.”

The 41-year-old admitted that a few years back he had nearly quit playing cricket.

“Performances weren’t there and I was thinking of giving up. But my family pushed me. My friends pushed me. Then Mithun [Manhas] bhai called. And everything just happened.”

Coach Ajay Sharma, with whom Dogra joined hands before the 2024-25 campaign, said that the painful exit from last season’s Ranji Trophy after conceding a one-run first-innings lead to Kerala in the quarters spurred the team on.

“We thought that result will haunt us for a long time,” Ajay stated. “So we worked on it. Last year, we didn’t cross the hurdles. This time, we reached the semifinals for the first time, and then created history. You can’t take us lightly now. We are a force to reckon with.”