What more does Aquib Nabi need to do to merit a national call-up?

There are no prizes for guessing the biggest talking point about the Indian squad named for the one-off Test against Afghanistan on Wednesday: what more does Aquib Nabi need to do to merit a call-up to the red ball format? If a haul of 60 wickets from 10 games (at an average of 12.56) in a single Ranji Trophy season for surprise champions Jammu & Kashmir is not enough, then perhaps nothing will be.

‘’The selectors’ decision to ignore him (Nabi) is absolutely absurd and baffling. What kind of selection is this? It is just not acceptable. It is injustice,’’ remarked the legendary Dilip Vengsarkar, a former chairman of selectors. What he found particularly illogical was the way the selectors chose to ignore Nabi’s back-to-back seasons of outstanding Ranji performances — with him claiming 44 wickets in the 2024-25 season at an average of 13.27.

‘’If domestic cricket performances are not a criterion, then the BCCI should scrap domestic cricket,’’ Vengsarkar said. The media space has been agog with a statistical comparison between the 29-year-old Nabi and Gurnoor Brar, the right-arm quick from Punjab who has got the nod ahead of him in the 15-member squad. Gurnoor is younger and bowls at a faster clip, though questions are being asked as to whether Brar’s proximity to Test captain Shubman Gill gave him the edge when it came to the final call.

Gurnoor took fewer wickets (23 from seven games) last season at an average of 21.26, but his raw pace and ability to hit the deck are believed to have tilted the scales in his favour. Much to Brar’s credit, he picked up eight wickets during a trip to Australia to play tour games, including an unofficial pink-ball Test. In those matches, Brar conceded 4 to 5.5 runs per over on pitches that aided bounce, his preferred weapon of choice, and Ajit Agarkar, the current chief selector, dropped a hint that he was preferred given the 2027 ODI World Cup will be on the hard tracks of South Africa.

“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. Point taken, but it’s also no secret that Brar, who comes from the same state as Gill, also plays under his captaincy at Gujarat Titans and trains under Ashish Nehra, a highly rated coach in the Indian ecosystem.

The question is: where does that leave Nabi, whose relative lack of pace (around 130 km) is now suddenly being held against him? Barely a couple of months back after the Ranji season, former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly said he wanted to see the strapping seamer in the Indian ranks during their white-ball tour of England in June-July, where Nabi’s seam and swing may come handy.

The signals sent out by the current lot selectors can often be confusing. A senior pro like Mohammed Shami, for instance, is repeatedly being ignored with Agarkar shifting the goalposts. If the latter had expressed doubts about the 35-year-old’s match fitness earlier, Shami proved him wrong during the domestic season and Agarkar says he is in the frame "only for the T20 format". Nobody, it seems, is ready to have an honest chat with one of the best pace bowlers of this generation.

Agarkar’s explanation about ignoring Nabi on Wednesday was vague at best: “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.” Does that mean the J&K bowler may be on the flight when the white-ball squad is picked for seamer-friendly conditions of England?

It’s anybody guess but at a time when Jasprit Bumrah needs to be cotton-woolled and Mohammed Siraj is being flogged around, it makes sense to keep the likes of Nabi ready for the long haul. The red ball needs men with strength, resilience and an ability to bowl long spells. Say what?