India call up seven net bowlers for Afghanistan Test preparation

Auqib Nabi and Prince Yadav are among seven net bowlers called up to assist India in their preparations for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, which begins on June 6 in New Chandigarh.

The group also features seamer Gurjapneet Singh along with spinners Shivang Kumar, Saransh Jain and Zeeshan Ansari.

Prince Yadav is part of India’s ODI squad for the subsequent three-match series, while Auqib Nabi was in contention for a place in the Test squad following his standout performances for Jammu and Kashmir over the past few seasons. He played a key role in their maiden Ranji Trophy triumph earlier this year.

Nabi finished as the leading wicket-taker with 60 wickets at an impressive average of 12.56, earning the Player of the Tournament award. 

However, he missed out on selection as the national selectors opted for a three-man pace attack comprising Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar.

“We do not necessarily pick a lot of seamers when selecting a Test team in India,” chief selector Ajit Agarkar had said at the time. “He was close, but at this point we have gone with the three we have picked.”

This will be only the second Test between India and Afghanistan. Their previous encounter came in 2018 in Bengaluru — Afghanistan’s inaugural Test — where India registered a dominant win by an innings and 262 runs inside two days.

Following the Test, the ODI series will begin on June 14 in Dharamshala, with the remaining matches scheduled in Lucknow on June 17 and Chennai on June 20.

India Test squad vs Afghanistan:

Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vc), Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey and Dhruv Jurel.