BCCI’s selection committee needs a box of eyedrops because there’s no logical explanation for Auqib Nabi’s omission from India’s Test squad for the one-off match against Afghanistan.
The Jammu & Kashmir pacer played a pivotal role in J&K’s historic Ranji Trophy victory. In the final, he single-handedly dismantled Karnataka’s top batting order. He picked five wickets, including that of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, and Karun Nair.
In cricketing circles, his maiden Test call-up felt inevitable. And yet, once again, Nabi has been left out in the cold.
Players like him don’t come around every season. Nabi is a rare, once-in-a-generation talent, and BCCI’s inability to reward it is unfortunate. From where I see, this isn’t Nabi’s loss, it‘s India’s.
With Harshit Rana and Akash Deep injured and the selectors deciding to rest Jasprit Bumrah, the selectors went for Gurnoor Brar as the back-up pacer behind Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna.
Then, Ajit Agarkar, the chief selector of India’s men’s cricket team, justified the decision saying that Nabi came very close to his maiden Test call-up.
“There is always a chat around someone who has done well the last couple of seasons. You do not necessarily pick a lot of seamers when you pick a Test team in India. And he was close,” Agarkar said.
“But at this point, we have gone with the three that we have picked. But there was certainly a chat around Nabi. There is no doubt. He has had some incredible performances for Jammu & Kashmir.”
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What the stats say
The selection committee picked Brar over Nabi. But before making any argument, let’s just look at the picture that statistics draw.
Nabi has taken a combined 104 wickets across the last two Ranji Trophy seasons. In 2024-25, he picked up 44 wickets in seven matches, the most by any pacer that season. In 2025–26, he went a step further and finished with 60 wickets in 10 matches, the highest overall tally in the tournament.
Now compare that with the stats of Brar, who has 33 wickets in his entire first-class Ranji career for Punjab. In the 2024–25 season, he picked up 26 wickets in seven matches and finished as Punjab’s leading wicket-taker.
Yes, Brar’s ability to contribute with the bat lower down the order works in his favour. But that argument only holds weight when it’s a close contest. This isn’t one.
Nothing against the Punjab pacer, but there’s honestly no comparison between the two at this stage. Brar, who plays for Shubman Gill-led Gujarat Titans in IPL, is 25. He still has time to develop, improve, and grind it out in domestic cricket. Nabi, meanwhile, is 29. Time isn’t exactly on his side anymore.
It feels like BCCI is simply running down the clock on him, only to eventually turn around in a couple of years and cite his age as the reason to not select him.
So the question is: what exactly does Auqib Nabi need to do to prove himself? Because right now, it feels like the only thing working against him is the fact that he was not picked by Gujarat Titans.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)