Former BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has backed the national selectors’ bold decision to pick young pacer Prince Yadav ahead of Jammu & Kashmir star Auqib Nabi in the Indian squad for the upcoming one-off Test against Afghanistan, starting on June 6 in New Chandigarh.
The former Indian captain admitted that Auqib deserved the India call-up for his outstanding performances in red-ball cricket over the recent Ranji seasons, but he also praised the selectors for showing courage and investing in genuine fast bowling talent.
Sourav Ganguly backs selectors for picking Prince Yadav over Auqib Nabi for IND vs AFG Test
Auqib Nabi has been delivering record-breaking performance in the Ranji Trophy for the past few seasons, but Sourav Ganguly feels the selectors made the right call to reward Prince Yadav because of his raw pace and attacking bowling style for the one-off Test against Afghanistan at home.
Nabi had a dream domestic season for Jammu & Kashmir. The right-arm pacer finished as the highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy with 60 wickets and played a huge role in helping his team lift their maiden Ranji title. He troubled batters throughout the tournament with swing, accuracy, and discipline and even produced several match-winning spells in knockout games.
Auqib Nabi vs Prince Yadav
Over the last two Ranji Trophy seasons combined, Auqib picked up more than 100 wickets and became one of the biggest match-winning players in domestic cricket. But despite those numbers, the selectors decided to go with Prince Yadav for the upcoming Afghanistan Test.
The young Delhi pacer had a breakthrough IPL season for Lucknow Super Giants, where he impressed everyone with his pace, bounce, yorkers, and fearless bowling in pressure situations. Prince picked up 16 wickets in IPL 2026 and regularly bowled above 140 kmph.
Even though he has played only two first-class matches, the selectors saw him as a special fast-bowling talent with qualities that can trouble batters at the highest level. And Ganguly believes modern cricket is changing quickly and bowlers with genuine pace are becoming extremely valuable.
Selectors have done a wonderful job: Sourav Ganguly
The legend further explained that the selectors cannot afford to keep such fast bowlers waiting in domestic cricket for too long, but at the same time, he felt Nabi should also have been picked in the squad for the Afghanistan Test because of his performances in the Ranji Trophy.
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Sourav Ganguly was quoted as saying by Times of India, "Nabi should have been in the squad (for the Afghanistan series). He bowled superbly in the Ranji Trophy. But Prince Yadav is also talented, and he’s so quick. I think the selectors have done a wonderful job by giving Prince the opportunity to play, because when you have pace, you don’t keep them in first class. I think both should have got picked.”
T20 cricket has completely changed: Ganguly
Ganguly also admitted that the past generation was playing T20 cricket in a different way than these modern-era hitters because they never imagined it would become this huge after 25 years.
The former BCCI president also explained that the game keeps changing with every generation, and T20 cricket is now a permanent part of the game and will continue producing powerful batters who love hitting sixes.
