India have handed maiden Test call-ups to left-arm spinners Manav Suthar and Harsh Dubey whose prolific Ranji Trophy 2024–25 season created waves, as well as Punjab pacer Gurnoor Brar for the one-off Test against Afghanistan next month.
“That is the role we are looking at anyway,” chief selector Ajit Agarkar said, alluding to Dubey and Brar’s selections. “With the Test team, we can see there is a lot of transition happening at this point. We are looking at options. A couple of players have moved away from Test cricket. We want guys who can contribute with the bat down the order but also have the necessary skill to be a front-line spin or a front-line seam bowler. We think he certainly fits the bill. We are hopeful that when he gets that opportunity, he shows what he can do. We have seen enough over the last couple of years, maybe a little bit more. He seems to have the necessary skill to succeed at this level.”
“Auqib Nabi, of course, is someone who has had a great season, not just now but last season as well. There’s always a chat around that but you don’t necessarily pick a lot of seamers when you pick a Test team in India. He was close, but at this point we have gone with the three that we have picked. But there was certainly a chat around that. There is no doubt that he has had some incredible performances for Jammu and Kashmir.”
The only Test of Afghanistan’s tour will be played from June 6-10 in Mullanpur – a first for the New Chandigarh venue.
India Test squad: Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vc), Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel.
