Auqib Nabi joins India's ODI squad as New Zealand series nears
The fast bowler, who made his India debut against West Indies in September, has been added for the full five-match ODI series in New Zealand, as Yuvraj Singh urges selectors to trust India's young batting talent.
Fast bowler Auqib Nabi has been added to India's squad for the first three ODIs of their five-match series against New Zealand, ESPNcricinfo has reported.
Having made his India debut in September's series against West Indies, Nabi is now set to be part of the squad across all five ODIs on this tour.
His inclusion comes amid wider changes to India's bowling resources ahead of the series. The BCCI confirmed on Friday that Prasidh Krishna has been ruled out, having not played competitive cricket since sustaining an injury during the second ODI against West Indies.
The board said Prasidh needs further time to build his bowling workload before returning to match action. Provided he passes a Return to Play assessment, Prasidh will link up with India A for their third four-day fixture against New Zealand A - the last of that series - giving him some middle time before the Tests begin on November 19.
Mohammed Siraj is also set to join India A, turning out for the second of their four-day matches against New Zealand A, which gets under way on October 31. Nitish Kumar Reddy remains with the ODI squad for the opening match against New Zealand on November 4, after which he too will move to India A for the third four-day fixture to prepare for the Test series.
Yuvraj makes the case for India's young batters
The squad news arrived as Yuvraj Singh renewed his call for India to give regular ODI opportunities to Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, arguing their form in white-ball cricket is not being matched by selection.
Speaking at the launch of Protocol 32 in Mumbai, as reported by Yahoo Sports, Yuvraj said he had made the point before and stood by it. "I would love to see him (Abhishek) in the ODIs, to be honest, and I have said this before that if we are not picking guys like Ishan Kishan, Abhishek and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in 50-over cricket, then somewhere down the line we are not doing justice to their talent," he said.
Yuvraj acknowledged the difficulty facing selectors given the strength of India's established players. "I understand we have some great players and it is hard to make a spot for them. I think the way they (young batters) are performing, hopefully, they should be in the squad soon," he said.
He also praised Abhishek's progress specifically, saying: "Whatever he (Abhishek) has achieved is because of his hard work, and credit goes to him."
India's top three in ODIs currently consists of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill, all of whom return to action against New Zealand, leaving little room for younger batters to force their way into the XI before the 2027 World Cup.
India's first ODI against New Zealand takes place on November 4, with the five-match series forming the white-ball portion of a tour that also includes a two-Test series starting on November 19.