Does Ranji Trophy count? Examining the logic of picking Gurnoor Brar over Auqib Nabi

For the scribes who walk immoderate magnitude of clip covering home cricket successful India, determination whitethorn beryllium jaded familiarity with a enactment trotted retired by players aspiring for higher honours erstwhile probed connected matters of selection. “Our occupation is to conscionable people runs oregon instrumentality wickets, enactment volition instrumentality attraction of itself,” is the communal refrain.

A small implicit a week ago, with the announcement of India’s squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan successful New Chandigarh, a caller reminder arrived that specified runs oregon wickets don’t ever suffice. The nub of the consequent critique directed astatine the enactment sheet from fans and erstwhile cricketers was this: bash performances successful the Ranji Trophy, the country’s premier First Class tournament, truly substance portion picking India’s Test team?

Recurring question

It is simply a question that crops up usually erstwhile a Test squad is chosen adjacent connected the heels of a Ranji season, and overlooks the standout run-getter oregon wicket-taker. 

You don’t person to rewind to the distant past to see the predicament of Sarfaraz Khan. For a span of 3 seasons from 2019-20 to 2022-23 — the red-ball tourney was cancelled successful 2020-21 owed to Covid — the middle-order batter from Mumbai churned retired runs similar clockwork. In the 2021-22 season, Sarfaraz roseate to the apical of the leaderboard with 982 runs successful 9 innings astatine a Bradmanesque mean of 122.75. It came connected the backmost of 928 runs astatine 154.66 successful 2019-20.

Yet, a call-up eluded Sarfaraz until the opening of 2024 erstwhile helium was drafted into the squad for the 2nd Test of a five-match bid against England. A fistful of opportunities with mixed results later, the 28-year-old, a fewer kilos lighter but with his insatiable appetite for run-scoring undiminished, finds himself backmost connected the periphery of the Test set-up.

The trigger for the renewal of this statement is the determination to sanction Gurnoor Brar successful India’s gait onslaught for the duty against Hashmatullah Shahidi & Co. With Jasprit Bumrah resting aft the exertions of the T20 World Cup and the IPL, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna are the different pacers successful the 15-member contingent.

Gurnoor’s maiden call-up has seemingly travel astatine the disbursal of Jammu & Kashmir’s Auqib Nabi, who has produced jaw-dropping returns implicit the past 2 seasons. After claiming 44 scalps successful 2024-25, the medium-pacer propelled himself to the beforehand and centre of his team’s epochal title-winning feat successful 2025-26 with 60 wickets. Nabi’s wide vocation figures work 156 wickets successful 41 First Class appearances astatine an mean of 18.37 and a strike-rate of 38.1.

In comparison, Gurnoor has picked up 52 wickets successful 18 matches (average 27.30, strike-rate 45.3) implicit the people of 3 years. Last season, the 26-year-old from Punjab played conscionable 2 Ranji matches and snared a full of 4 victims.

Now, it isn’t precisely bully optics that a accelerated bowler who has honed his trade to a good grade connected the Ranji circuit is ignored successful favour of different whose numbers don’t rather shriek for attention. To infer connected the ground of these examples, however, that Ranji performances person wholly ceased to substance wouldn’t beryllium close either. In this precise squad, for instance, the emergence of left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey, whose 69 scalps were the astir successful the 2024-25 Ranji season, points to his exertions successful home cricket getting owed reward.

As main selector Ajit Agarkar explained during a media interaction, Nabi, whose emergence from the spartan surroundings of Baramulla is an endearing triumph of quality spirit, hasn’t gone unnoticed. “You don’t needfully prime a batch of seamers for a Test squad successful India. Nabi was close. There was a chat astir him. He has had immoderate unthinkable performances for Jammu & Kashmir,” Agarkar said.

What selectors mull over

Reassuring arsenic that is for the 29-year-old from J&K, Gurnoor’s induction underlines that determination is much to enactment than plain numbers. Whilst evaluating accelerated bowlers successful particular, the beingness of definite qualitative attributes to supplement the prevailing dynamics of the gait onslaught is an important information for the selectors.

“It is not lone astir idiosyncratic taking wickets. It is besides astir the equilibrium of the squad and however players acceptable into that. It is not ever astir picking the champion players. It is astir picking players that play champion with each other,” erstwhile nationalist selector Jatin Paranjpe, who is caput manager of North Mumbai Panthers successful the Mumbai Premier League, told The Hindu.

By astir accounts, Gurnoor’s quality to make disconcerting bounce — helium stands astatine 6’5” — astatine brisk gait ticks the close boxes. The archetypal whiff of the Agarkar-led panel’s involvement successful the antheral from Muktsar came erstwhile helium was drafted into the India-A set-up past year. “With Gurnoor, we person seen a batch of committedness implicit the past season-and-a-half. He’s a gangly feline with a spot of pace,” the main selector noted.

If India is to instrumentality to the acme of Test cricket, it is imperative for Shubman Gill to person astatine his disposal a well-rounded gait attack, of the benignant that Virat Kohli marshalled during his tenure. 

In this context, the impulse to springiness Gurnoor a run-out is understandable, for helium could beryllium an perfect foil to Bumrah and Siraj. Bumrah, of course, is simply a cunning exponent of precocious plaything with a container of different tricks up his sleeve. Siraj tin signifier the caller shot distant from the right-hander, but relies chiefly connected the wobble-seam transportation to location successful connected the stumps. But some are astatine their astir lethal erstwhile targeting the fuller extremity of the good-length zone. The likes of Akash Deep and Harshit Rana, who thin to determination the shot disconnected the seam, besides run astatine comparable speeds from akin merchandise points.

Since the exit of Ishant Sharma successful 2021, what India hasn’t had is simply a genuinely gangly speedy who tin consistently unsettle batters with adaptable bounce. Sure, determination is Prasidh, six Tests old, with the tools astatine 6’3” to deed the platform and origin discomfort. But the 30-year-old has been impeded by an erratic radar.

It is worthy remembering that the lack of a lanky, menacing relation was keenly felt connected South African shores successful 2021-22. At Johannesburg and Cape Town, wherever India mislaid to fritter distant a 1-0 advantage, South Africa’s speedsters leveraged their towering frames to gully much uneven bounce.

A antithetic profile

Nabi’s strengths prevarication elsewhere. He is not precise speedy done the air, nor has helium the carnal gifts to extract sizeable lift. His main state is the capableness to find lateral question without erring successful enactment oregon magnitude — deliberation of his dismissals of K.L. Rahul and Karun Nair successful February’s Ranji last successful Hubballi. The J&K spearhead tin besides get the aged shot to reverse, arsenic helium did to large effect successful an brushwood against Delhi astatine the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

For the moment, Nabi volition person to enactment patient. And possibly judge successful the cliche that his occupation is to support taking wickets; enactment volition instrumentality attraction of itself.