When the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee unveiled India’s squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, it received huge backlash. The criticism revolved around basically just one player, Auqib Nabi, who seemingly cemented his spot in the team after a heroic Ranji Trophy campaign. However, the BCCI chose to ignore him, as his selection wasn’t made despite the right-arm pacer clocking 60 wickets in 10 matches.
The Indian team, which continued with the same senior batting core, included new names in the bowling department. But Nabi wasn’t part of the list, as the likes of Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar were chosen to partner Mohammed Siraj in the non-WTC match.
However, now, the management has somewhat undone the damage as the news is rolling out that Nabi has joined the Indian Test squad ahead of the one-off clash against Afghanistan on June 6. He and six other bowlers have been selected as net bowlers to allow main squad players some rest after a fatiguing IPL season.
Auqib Nabi among many selected pacers
As per reports, Nabi has been added by the BCCI as a net bowler in the Test team. While initial reports suggested that he was added as a backup player, new development divulges that Nabi is part of the seven-man bowling group that has been involved as net bowlers. But due to this, the 29-year-old can gain first-hand experience of international cricket. The news comes after we saw another domestic bowler join the team as a net bowler. Zeeshan Ansari, who was with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), will bowl to the Indian batters as they prepare for wily Afghanistan spinners.
Auqib Nabi at 2025/26 domestic season
- Ranji Trophy: 60 wickets in 17 innings
- Vijay Hazare Trophy: 14 wickets at SR 23.00
- Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: 15 wickets at Econ 7.55
Apart from Nabi and Ansari, the other bowlers selected as India’s net bowlers are Prince Yadav, Gurjapneet Singh, Shivang Kumar, and Saransh Jain.
As for Nabi, it is a very sensible call since the Jammu and Kashmir pacer needed a boost after doing so well in the domestic circuit. Having made his FC debut in 2020, Nabi has featured in 41 matches and picked up 156 wickets, out of which 104 have come only in the last two seasons.
He literally took his side to their maiden Ranji Trophy win, claiming the third-most wickets by a pacer in a season. His swing bowling was terrific to see as Nabi made batters dance on his tunes.
Most wickets in two successive editions of Ranji Trophy
| Bowler | Seasons | Mats | Wkts | Ave | SR | 5WI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashutosh Aman | 2018-19 & 2019-20 | 17 | 117 | 11.35 | 30.57 | 14 |
| Kanwaljit Singh | 1998-99 & 1999-00 | 23 | 113 | 24.47 | 60.60 | 8 |
| Shahbaz Nadeem | 2015-16 & 2016-17 | 19 | 107 | 22.75 | 47.40 | 8 |
| Jaydev Unadkat | 2018-19 & 2019-20 | 18 | 106 | 14.68 | 32.58 | 10 |
| Auqib Nabi | 2024-25 & 2025-26 | 18 | 104 | 13.14 | 29.30 | 13 |
| Ishwar Chaudhary | 2018-19 & 2019-20 | 17 | 100 | 21.43 | 33.16 | 11 |
After all this, it seemed certain that India might just look at Nabi for the Test against Afghanistan, in which they were already supposed to play a second-string pace attack. However, the BCCI went ahead with Gurnoor Brar over Nabi. Brar’s a different pacer altogether. He’s more of a hit-the-deck fast bowler, who is quicker than Nabi and could extract something extra from a lifeless pitch.
India’s squad for one-off Test vs Afghanistan
Shubman Gill (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vice-captain), Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel (wicket-keeper)
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