Abid Mushtaq

Abid Mushtaq is an Indian domestic cricketer who plays for Jammu & Kashmir. He is a left-arm orthodox spinner and left-handed batter.

Abid has cemented his place in the J&K side across formats as a bowling all-rounder. However, this did not come easy for him. Born in the Bhaderwah town of Doda district, which is 157 kilometres away from Jammu, the southpaw had to travel all day to reach the trials' destination.

Despite his talent, Abid did not enjoy instant success. However, he eventually rose up the ranks, representing J&K in age-group cricket at U-16, U-19, U-22 and U-23 levels.

Former India cricketer and J&K mentor Irfan Pathan became interested in Abid’s potential in 2018 and called for his inclusion in senior-level teams.

He made his List-A, First-Class, and T20 debuts all in 2019, representing J&K in the domestic tournaments that year and gradually becoming their top performer.

In the Ranji Trophy 2022-23, he bowled his career-best spell versus Vidarbha as his 8-18 in the second innings denied the opposition an easy win, considering the position they were in at the end stages of the game. He ended the season as J&K’s highest wicket-taker, grabbing 32 scalps in 10 innings.

Abid was called up by the Australian team as a net bowler ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2023.

He attended as many as seven trials ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 auction but found no bidder. However, his hard work finally bore fruit, as Rajasthan Royals acquired him for INR 20 lakh in the IPL 2024 auction. In the 2023-24 Indian domestic calendar, he picked up 28 wickets across formats.

(As of March 2024)