Auqib Nabi vs Gurnoor Brar: Why was one of India’s best pacers not tested for the first time?

You can be the best red ball pitcher in the country. You may have dismantled the heavyweights and led your cricket rookie to a historic triumph in the Ranji Trophy. You may have taken the most wickets, featured in big matches, but that is by no means a guaranteed ticket to Team India.

That’s the kind of message that was delivered to Jammu and Kashmir paceman Auqib Nabi on Wednesday, May 20, when the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel met to pick 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 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 and dismissed the likes of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair, three of the best current red-ball players in the country.

“Someone who has done well in the last two seasons, that’s always talked about, but when you play in India, you don’t get a lot of it,” Ajit Agarkar told a press conference, explaining Nabi’s absence from the 15-man squad.

INDIA CALL-UP GURNOOR BRAR

Punjab pacer Gurnoor Brar, who took 23 wickets in seven matches at an average of 21.26 in last season’s Ranji Trophy, was called up in place of Nabi, not bad but nowhere near Nabi’s.

Brar took eight wickets to his credit when he was sent to Australia to play tournaments, including an unofficial pink-ball Test. But the context of these goals is important. In those games, Brar allowed a save of 4 to 5.5 runs on more pitches that aided the bounce, his weapon of choice.

And that rebound seems to have tipped the selection in his favor at this point.

Sources revealed to India Today that Brar’s selection was driven by his distinctive pace, tall stature and strong temperament while bowling fast under pressure. The selectors felt his raw speed offered a more dynamic dimension to the attack.

However, Brar also has the support of Indian Test captain Shubman Gill. Brar plays for Gujarat Titans where he plays under Gill and trains under the watchful eye of Ashish Nehra, one of the top rated coaches in the Indian ecosystem.

If both rate Brar highly, it is understandable that the selectors have given weightage to the fast bowler, keeping in mind the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, the team they want to build on.

“We’ve seen a lot of promise with Gurnoor over the last season and a half. A tall guy with a bit of pace,” Agarkar said.

“Obviously with the World Cup in South Africa (ODI) in mind, we’re going to try a few guys who could be useful at that point if they develop further,” he added.

Development is the key word here. And at this stage of Indian cricket, you have to believe it.

But that shouldn’t detract from the fact that Auqib Nabi, who took more red-ball wickets last season than Gurnoor Brar in his entire first-class career, has been sidelined. And decisions like these inevitably raise questions about the value attached to the Ranji Trophy.

It’s not about pitting Nabi against Brar. Brar is talented, promising, and possibly a real long-term investment. The bigger question is what message Indian cricket is sending to its domestic red-ball specialists.

If India are entering a difficult transition phase in Test cricket and even extraordinary Ranji Trophy performances in domestic conditions are not enough to earn them a call-up, then the road starts to look blurry.

Auqib Nabi has just produced one of the best seasons by an Indian fast bowler in recent Ranji Trophy history. If that still keeps him out of the Test squad against Afghanistan, it’s fair to wonder what exactly the home-grown quick needs to 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, D Harsh Jurel.

– The end

Issued by:

Kingshuk Kusari

Published on:

21 May 2026 15:01 IST