Hubli, Feb 24 : Jammu and Kashmir have won the toss and opted to bat first against eight-time champions Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy final here at the KSCA Hubli Cricket Ground on Tuesday.

Jammu & Kashmir have qualified for their maiden Ranji Trophy. Notably, the last team to win their maiden Ranji Trophy title was MP in the 2021-22 season

While Paras Dogra-captained J&K have a maiden title up for grabs, Devdutt Padikkal-led Karnataka are chasing their first crown in well over a decade. J&Kâ??s only defeat in this season came in a 35-run loss to Mumbai in October, and they have not looked back since then.

Karnataka endured a campaign filled with twists and turns. They were in a strong position before the tournament paused for the white-ball leg, but the restart brought a significant setback in the form of a heavy defeat to Madhya Pradesh. That result left them with little room for error, and with weather interruptions and resistance from Punjab adding to the tension, their path to qualification grew increasingly narrow.

Stepping up when it mattered most, newly appointed captain Padikkal produced an unbeaten 120, steering his side into the quarterfinals as daylight ebbed away. From there, momentum gathered pace: a strong victory over Mumbai was followed by a dominant display against Uttarakhand, securing their place as hosts for the final.

Playing XIs:

Jammu and Kashmir: Paras Dogra (c), Qamran Iqbal, Yawer Hassan, Shubham Singh Pundir, Abdul Samad, Kanhaiya Wadhawan (wk), Abid Mushtaq, Auqib Nabi, Yudhvir Singh, Sahil Lotra, Sunil Kumar

Karnataka: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal (c), Karun Nair, Smaran Ravichandran, Shreyas Gopal, Kruthik Krishna (wk), Vidyadhar Patil, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Shikhar Shetty, Prasidh Krishna

/IANS