It was amongst the rarest sights in Indian cricket when a pacer, named Auqib Nabi, captured the headlines through his remarkable bowling spells in the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 season. In modern cricket, mostly, batters remain in the center of focus. After the emergence of the pacer, many would have thought that Auqib Nabi would surely play for Team India during the one-off Test match against Afghanistan.
However, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee had different thoughts during the team selection. As per the previous speculations, the selection panel has picked up a new set of bowlers to take on Afghanistan. There will be no Jasprit Bumrah or Mohammed Siraj.
No room for Auqib Nabi
Prasidh Krishna will be the main pacer for India. For the bowling duties, along with Krishan, Gurnoor Brar, Manav Suthar, Harsh Dubey, and Kuldeep Yadav are named in the squad as the regular bowlers, along with the all-rounders in the form of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar.
Also Read: India Test squad vs Afghanistan: Full breakdown of shocking exclusions and surprise inclusions
Ajit Agarkar explains the selection
"We have been told that at this point, T20 cricket is what he is ready, so there was no discussion regarding Mohammed Shami. There was chat around Auqib Nabi. Rishabh remains a part of Test squad and an incredible player. He's not part of ODI squad but right now he's a key part of Test team," Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar said about the team selection.
Auqib Nabi presented a stellar season for J&K
Jammu and Kashmir’s Auqib Nabi emerged as the highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 season. The seamer took 60 wickets with an economy rate of 2.65 in 17 innings. During the course, his strike rate was 28.00. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 (VHT 2025-26), Nabi bagged 14 wickets from 7 innings for an economy rate of 5.77. His dominating form continues even in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament as well, taking 15 wickets from 7 innings.
Auqib Nabi is one of the main reasons why Jammu and Kashmir claimed their maiden Ranji Trophy title. After such a stellar season, many cricket fans lauded in favor of the pacer. It was believed that Nabi’s first Test for India was only a matter of time. But the selection panel of the board may want to see something more from the bowler.
India Test squad:
Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (VC), Sai Sudarshan, Pant, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Manav Suthar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel.
Fans seek justice as BCCI ignored Auqib Nabi
Justice for Auqib Nabi. https://t.co/cXC78EOe67
— perplexity (@neocriclicks) May 19, 2026
Lol where is auqib nabi ???
— SNOW (@RavinderSi72089) May 19, 2026
Why not Auqib Nabi
— Sayed Shafait (@ShafaitYaseen) May 19, 2026
You feel for Auqib Nabi. 156 FC wickets at an average of 18.37 is frankly absurd. Definitely warranted a place.
— Fine Margins (@finemarginscc) May 19, 2026
Justice for Auqib Nabi 💔
— 𝚈𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚛 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚣𝚘𝚘𝚛 (@miryasir_25) May 19, 2026
Read More: India ODI squad for Afghanistan series: Full breakdown of surprise picks and axed stars
