An average cricket fan in India would just know, that the Indian team, especially the Test side needs a player like J&K’s Auqib Nabi, who has been taking wickets by truckloads. Last year, he had finished second in the list of highest wicket-takers of the Ranji Trophy season, with 44 scalps, and this year, he has grown exponentially, to claim 60* and be top of the list.
Do Ranji Trophy wickets matter?
Just by sheer logic, he deserves a space in the team. But if only it was that easy, selectors would have rewarded some of the highest wicket-takers of past, in some capacity. The truth is, despite having the need/requirement, it is made to believe that no spots are vacant in the team; and as a trend, the Ranji Trophy performers are continued to be ignored.
In the last 10 years, no player has been handed the India cap, or played a match for finishing as the highest wicket-taker, which is quite baffling. Jharkhand’s Shahbaz Nadeem was perhaps in his prime during 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 seasons, where he picked a total of 107 wickets, but only made his India debut in October 2019.
Veteran all-rounder Jalaj Saxena bagged 44 the next year and was not picked, ever. The list also features Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Shams Mulani, Jaydev Unadkat, Sai Kishore and Harsh Dubey. All this, when now we are struggling to form a potent overall unit. Sticking to pace, yes, there is Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, but where are pacers 3 and 4?
Auqib Nabi needs to be in India Test team
Akash Deep has played 10 matches, picked up 28 wickets and is injury prone. Prasidh Krishna has 22 wickets in 6 matches, but he hasn’t found his rhythm in Tests, and is often too expensive. Harshit Rana is in nascent stages of FC career, while Arshdeep Singh hasn’t played a single red-ball match for India, despite being with the team for a few years.
Oh yeah, Shardul Thakur is there too, who is the make-shift all-rounder for the team in England/Australia. In short, even if there isn’t any space for Nabi, there should be a way to bring him in. He could perhaps be in the form of his life, where he can build his career, help the team win a few matches, which has been a real struggle, that too at home.
In addition, though Nabi isn’t the quintessential all-rounder, but he can score some runs as well. He averages 20 in FC, and even has a ton in LIST A cricket. So, that should really catch the attention of the selectors. Rest, only time will tell if being the highest wicket-taker actually benefits him, or not.
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