Who is Umar Nazir Mir? 5 interesting facts about J&K seamer who dismissed Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube in Ranji Trophy 2024-25

Jammu & Kashmir pacer Umar Nazir Mir made headlines after his brilliant spell in the first innings of the Group A Ranji Trophy 2024-25 fixture against Mumbai on Thursday (January 23). The tall fast bowler troubled India internationals, returning with figures of 4/41 from his 11 overs.

The pacer's first victim was Rohit Sharma, who returned to domestic cricket after a poor show with the bat in Test cricket in recent times. He dismissed Rohit for just three runs off 19 deliveries with a length ball on the fifth stump.

Umar Nazir Mir then dismissed Mumbai skipper Ajinkya Rahane, cleaning him up for just 12 runs before accounting for the wicket of Hardik Tamore, trapping him lbw.

His fourth scalp was that of Shivam Dube, who was dismissed for a three-ball duck. He bowled two maidens in his spell, keeping things tight with an economy-rate of 3.72. While many would have heard of him for the first time after this spell, Mir is not a new name and has been a consistent performer for Jammu & Kashmir in first-class cricket over the years.

That said, let us take a look at five interesting facts about the seamer who dismissed Rohit, Rahane and Dube.

---

#5 Impressive first-class record for Jammu & Kashmir

As mentioned above, Umar Nazir Mir has been around for over a decade now. He made his first-class debut for Jammu & Kashmir against Assam in December 2013.

The fast bowler has been a consistent wicket-taker for the side, picking up 138 scalps from 57 matches (before the Mumbai game) at an average of 29.12 and an economy rate of 3.13. Mir has also grabbed 4 four-wicket and 6 five-wicket hauls.

His best figures of 6/53 came in last year's Ranji Trophy against Services in Srinagar. He has only played three matches this season so far and has already bagged 15 wickets.

---

#4 Umar Nazir Mir is 6 foot 4 feet tall

Umar Nazir Mir hails from a small town in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, named Malikpora. His full name is Umar Nazir Ahmed Mir and he was born on November 3, 1993.

The 31-year-old tall right-arm pacer has been troubling batters for years, as he did in the first innings against Mumbai as well. His height, being a fast bowler, has been a certain advantage for him.

Interestingly, the Jammu & Kashmir seamer is 6 foot 4 feet tall in height. He has also played List A and T20 cricket for his side.

---

#3 Represented India C in the Deodhar Trophy

Umar Nazir Mir was also a part of India C during the 2018-19 Deodhar Trophy. He was 24 years and 349 days old when he was picked in India C's squad. The squad included big names such as Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane and youngsters like Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Washington Sundar, and Navdeep Saini among others.

He played in the second match against India A but did not pick up a wicket, returning with figures of 0/60 from eight overs. India C won the final and were crowned champions but Mir did not feature in the title clash.

---

#2 Net bowler in the IPL

Umar Nazir Mir has not made his debut for India and is yet to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as well. However, he does have a connection with the league despite not playing a single game so far.

The tall pacer has worked as a net bowler with two franchises in the IPL in the past. He first joined the Delhi Capitals as a net bowler for the 2020 IPL season He was with them in the 2022 season too. A season later, the pacer joined another franchise as a net bowler in 2023, that is the Punjab Kings.

---

#1 Unsold in multiple IPL auctions

The pacer did try his luck to play in the Indian Premier League. However, he has been unfortunate to not have gained attention from any of the franchises, despite being a net bowler with a couple of them.

Umar Nazir Mir was a part of the 2017 IPL auction. He had set his base price at INR 10 lakh, but remained unsold. The tall fast bowler registered his name for the 2018 auction as well with a base price of INR 20 lakh. However, he remained unsold this time around as well.

Mir was a part of the 2019 auction as well, with the same base price of INR 20 lakh. Unfortunately, he failed to attract any bidders once again.