Auqib Nabi has his first ODI call-up. On 16 September, India named the Jammu and Kashmir seamer in their squad for three ODIs against West Indies. The series starts in Thiruvananthapuram on 27 September.
This is his second India call-up in two months. In August, he replaced the injured Jasprit Bumrah for the Sri Lanka Tests but did not play.
The selectors picked the Shubman Gill-led squad with Bumrah away at the Asian Games. Hardik Pandya is also missing, and Gautam Gambhir has set a condition for his ODI return.
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His numbers show why he was picked and why people doubt him. They do not show how a swing bowler’s job changes when the ball never gets old.
| Format | Record |
|---|---|
| First-class | 45 matches, 170 wickets at 18.88 |
| Ranji Trophy 2025-26 | 60 wickets at 12.65, Player of the Tournament |
| List A | 36 matches, 56 wickets at 27.37, economy 5.20 |
| IPL 2026 (Delhi Capitals) | 5 matches, 0 wickets, economy 11.46 |
His red-ball record earned the call-up, and his white-ball record is why people question it. Delhi Capitals paid Rs 8.40 crore for him at the IPL auction, and he did not take a wicket in five games.
Aakash Chopra welcomed the pick but raised two doubts on his YouTube channel.
“I am really happy for Auqib Nabi, but at the same time, deep down, I am also a bit concerned because he is still not going to get an opportunity.”
Aakash Chopra, YouTube channel, 25 September 2026
“Let’s be honest about it, he does not have much pace. He has to bowl 10 overs, that too in different phases, so is he ready for that?”
Aakash Chopra, YouTube channel, 25 September 2026
Nabi has a queue in front of him. Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar are the frontline seamers, and Nitish Kumar Reddy is there as the pace-bowling all-rounder. On paper, Nabi is fifth in that line.
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In a Ranji game, a seamer works with one ball for 80 overs. It gets scuffed, one side stays shiny, and later in the day it starts to reverse. That old ball is where a bowler without express pace does a lot of his damage.
An ODI takes that away. Each end uses its own new ball, so neither is older than 25 overs, and it stays hard long after the swing has gone. Without express pace, that leaves line, length and cutters for 10 overs across different phases, a different job from the one that made Nabi’s name.
His red-ball game was on show this month in his Surrey stint: eight wickets in two matches.
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