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Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar said it was ‘ridiculous’ that Jammu & Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi was ignored for the Indian squad to face Afghanistan in the one-off Test next month.
Nabi finished the latest edition of the Ranji Trophy as the highest wicket-taker of the tournament, as J&K won their maiden title. Over the last two editions, Nabi has taken over 100 wickets in the Ranji Trophy but hasn’t found a place even in the India A squads.
India’s Test squad to face Afghanistan
Last week, the BCCI announced India’s squad to face Afghanistan for the one-off Test starting on June 6 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh.
It will be only the second-ever Men’s International match at the ground. The ground hosted a T20I between India and South Africa in December 2025. Earlier that year, the ground hosted two Women’s ODIs between India and Australia in September.
Nabi’s shocking exclusion wasn’t the only big news from the squad. The major change made to the team was to relieve wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant from the vice-captaincy and hand it to KL Rahul.
Ravindra Jadeja was rested from the Test due to workload management and injury concerns, as was Mohammed Shami.
Left-arm spinners Manav Suthar and Harsh Dubey earned their maiden call-ups to the national team alongside pacer Gurnoor Brar.
“Might as well not have the Ranji Trophy” – Sanjay Manjrekar
Manjrekar spoke on Sportstar’s Insight Edge podcast and shared his thoughts on Auqib Nabi’s non-selection. Manjrekar termed what happened to Nabi a ‘tremendous disrespect’ not just to Nabi himself, but also to the concept of the Ranji Trophy as a whole.
“I used to like the olden days when tremendous injustice was done. People would come out on the streets with placards and protests,” Manjrekar said. “Now the outcry is mostly on social media, but this is one non-selection that I just can’t understand.”
Manjrekar also said that Auqib Nabi’s non-selection was even more baffling because Mohammed Shami was missing from the squad.
“It’s actually ridiculous,” Manjrekar said. “When Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj are not playing, whether because they are being rested or for long-term planning, then you might as well not have the Ranji Trophy if performances like these are going to be ignored.”
Auqib Nabi’s performances in Domestic Cricket
In the Ranji Trophy won by Jammu & Kashmir, Nabi took 60 wickets in 10 matches at a bowling average of 12.56, combined with 7 five-wicket hauls.
Auqib Nabi was one of two bowlers to take multiple 10-wicket match hauls in the tournament. In the edition before that, J&K made the quarterfinals, and Nabi was the second-highest wicket-taker in the entire tournament with 44 wickets at an average of 13.93 in 8 matches
This means that across the last two editions of the Ranji Trophy, Auqib Nabi Dar has taken 104 wickets in 18 matches at a bowling average of 13.14 with 13 five-wicket hauls.
It has been speculated that Nabi’s poor show in IPL 2026 may have had to do with his non-selection for India. In the IPL this year, Nabi took no wickets in five matches for the Delhi Capitals and conceded at an economy of more than 11 runs per over.
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