Auqib Nabi and Prince Yadav will be among seven net bowlers helping India tune up for next week’s one-off Test against Afghanistan in New Chandigarh, starting 6 June.
The support cast also features left-arm seamer Gurjapneet Singh and three spinners – Shivang Kumar, Saransh Jain and Zeeshan Ansari. A seventh name is expected to be confirmed once the squad gathers, but the core group is already in Mohali, quietly getting through long spells with the red ball.
Prince, 23, is already in the frame for the white-ball leg that follows – a three-match ODI series – so this stint doubles as early acclimatisation. Nabi, meanwhile, was widely tipped for a full Test cap after spearheading Jammu & Kashmir’s first Ranji Trophy title earlier this year. Sixty wickets at 12.56, Player of the Tournament, and the new-ball spells that broke open games… on another day that number might have been enough.
Selector Ajit Agarkar explained the call in fairly blunt terms. “You do not necessarily pick a lot of seamers when you pick a Test team in India,” he said last week. “And he was close. But at this point, we have gone with the three that we have picked.” Those three are Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and the uncapped Gurnoor Brar – all right-arm quicks, giving the attack a similar shape to recent home series.
For Afghanistan, this is just their second Test against India; the first – Bengaluru, 2018 – ended in two days, India winning by an innings and 262 runs. The visitors have travelled with a younger group this time and, if nothing else, will expect to last a little longer on what is likely to be a flatter surface at the brand-new stadium in Mullanpur.
Net bowlers in camp: Auqib Nabi, Prince Yadav, Gurjapneet Singh, Shivang Kumar, Saransh Jain, Zeeshan Ansari, plus one to be confirmed.
