Auqib Nabi for J&K - (Source: X.com)
Jammu and Kashmir are on their way to clinch their maiden Ranji Trophy final. The feat wouldn’t have been possible without Auqib Nabi. The 29-year-old took the tournament by storm and has picked up 60 wickets in the ongoing edition.
Talking about the final, Nabi took a fifer to help J&K take the first innings lead over Karnataka. Overall, it has been a brilliant campaign for the star seamer, who is now the leading wicket-taker of the tournament. Further, Auqib Nabi has also scored 245 runs with the bat, averaging 22.27.
All of a sudden, there is a demand for the selectors to rope in Nabi to the Indian team and place him on the flight to New Zealand for the upcoming Test series later this year.
Trend Brings Bad News For Auqib Nabi
Amid the craze to see the Jammu and Kashmir star play for India, a recent stat has brought bad news for the seamer. Notably, journalist Gaurav Gupta posted a list of the highest-wicket takers of each Ranji Trophy edition from 2015 and revealed that no leading-wicket taker earned an India call-up in the last nine years. Here is the list.
Shahbaz Nadeem was the leading wicket-taker in 2015 and 2016 edition, but the 36-year-old got to make his India debut in 2019. Further, the likes of Jalaj Saxena, Dharmendrasingh Jadeja, and Shams Mulani never got to play for India.
In 2024-2025 season, Harsh Dubey picked up 69 wickets for Vidarbha and yet failed to grab selectors' eyeballs. Therefore, it also seems unlikely for Auqib Nabi to break into the Indian team.
Why Auqib Nabi Might Beat The Trend?
Despite the above-mentioned data, Nabi might actually break into the Indian team. At present, the WTC cycle is new and brining in J&K star will end India's pace woes. For the past two years, India have been struggling for a quality third seamer.
Also Read: Auqib Nabi Leads Jammu Kashmir To Inches Close Of 1st Ranji Trophy Title With Historic Record
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are there, but the two-time WTC finalists tried the likes of Anshul Kamboj, Prasidh Krishna, and a few others in this WTC Cycle, but nothing worked out. Now with Mohammed Shami also out of the scheme of things for the selectors, brining in Auqib Nabi can solve that issue for India.
Jammu and Kashmir Cricketers To Play For India
Till date, just two cricketers from Jammu & Kashmir have represented India. The first person to do so was Parvez Rasool. The 37-year-old made his international debut in 2014. He has played just two games - one ODI and a solitary T20I.
The latest player from J&K to make India debut was Umran Malik. The speedster impressed the selectors when he featured for SRH in IPL. The right-arm seamer made his India debut in 2022 but quickly went out of scheme of things in 2023.
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