You can be the best red-ball bowler in the country. You might have dismantled heavyweights and guided your rookie cricket state to a historic Ranji Trophy triumph. You might have taken the most wickets, stepping up in big matches, but that, by no means, is a confirmed ticket to Team India.
That is the kind of message that was given to Jammu and Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi on Wednesday, May 20, when the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee sat to choose the squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan.
Auqib Nabi, who picked 60 wickets at a ridiculous average of 12.57 last season, was told that he was not good enough to play Test cricket for India. Nabi was the player of the series in the last Ranji Trophy campaign, which included a five-wicket haul in the final against heavyweights Karnataka. Bowling the opening spell in the final of the tournament, Nabi broke the back of the batting attack, dismissing the likes of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair, three of the best red-ball players in the country at the moment.
“Someone who has done well over the last two seasons, there’s always a chat around that, but you don’t get a lot of seamers in when you play in India,” Ajit Agarkar said at the press conference, explaining Nabi’s absence in the 15-man team.
INDIA CALL-UP GURNOOR BRAR
In Nabi’s place, the call-up was given to Punjab pacer Gurnoor Brar, who took 23 wickets in seven games in the Ranji Trophy last season at an average of 21.26, not bad, but nowhere close to Nabi either.
To Brar’s credit, he picked up eight wickets when sent to Australia to play tour games, including an unofficial pink-ball Test. But the context of those wickets is important. In those matches, Brar conceded at an economy of 4 to 5.5 runs per over on pitches that aided bounce, his preferred weapon of choice.
And that bounce seems to have tilted the selection in his favour at the moment.
Sources revealed to India Today that Brar’s selection was driven by his distinct pace, tall frame and strong fast-bowling temperament under pressure. The selectors felt his raw velocity offered a more dynamic dimension to the attack.
Having said that, Brar also has the backing of India Test captain Shubman Gill. Brar plays for Gujarat Titans, where he plays under Gill’s captaincy and trains under the watchful eyes of Ashish Nehra, one of the highest-rated coaches in the Indian ecosystem.
If the two rate Brar highly, it is understandable that the selectors have given weightage to the fast bowler, keeping in mind the ODI World Cup in South Africa in 2027, a squad that they want to build towards.
“With Gurnoor, we have seen a lot of promise over the last season and a half. A tall guy with a bit of pace,” Agarkar said.
“Keeping the South African (ODI) World Cup in mind, we are obviously going to try a few guys who at that point might be useful if they keep developing,” he added.
Developing is the operative word here. And at this stage of Indian cricket, you have to trust that.
But that should not take away from the fact that Auqib Nabi, who has more red-ball wickets last season than Gurnoor Brar has in his entire first-class career, has been sidelined. And decisions like these inevitably raise questions about the value attached to the Ranji Trophy.
This is not about pitting Nabi against Brar. Brar is talented, promising and perhaps a genuine long-term investment. The larger question is what message Indian cricket sends to its domestic red-ball specialists.
If India are entering a difficult transition phase in Test cricket and even extraordinary Ranji Trophy performances in home conditions are not enough to earn a call-up, then the pathway begins to look blurred.
Auqib Nabi has just produced one of the finest seasons by an Indian fast bowler in recent Ranji Trophy history. If that still leaves him outside a Test squad against Afghanistan, it is fair to ask what exactly a domestic fast bowler must do to break through.
INDIA TEST SQUAD vs AFG
Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vc), Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel
– Ends
