Tall fast bowler Gurnoor Brar has officially joined the North Zone squad ahead of their Duleep Trophy semi-final. In addition, fellow pacer Auqib Nabi is expected to travel to England for a short-term stint in the County Championship, as he prepares for India’s Test tour of New Zealand scheduled for November this year.
Both Brar and Nabi were part of India’s squad in the recent 1-0 series win over Sri Lanka, but did not feature in the playing eleven. Meanwhile, IANS understands that Nabi, who finished as the leading wicket-taker in the last Ranji Trophy season with 60 wickets, as Jammu & Kashmir won their maiden championship title, could be sent to England for a short county championship stint before the India ‘A’ red-ball games against Australia begin in Puducherry in September. “Yes, Gurnoor has joined the North Zone team for the Duleep Trophy semi-final. Apart from Gurnoor, off-spin bowling all-rounder Saransh Jain is also set to join the Central Zone team for their semi-final clash against East Zone. Franchises like Surrey and Hampshire are in contention to get Nabi’s services, though the former may have a higher chance to get him on board. Surrey right now has India leg-spinner Rahul Chahar and uncapped batting all-rounder Mahipal Lomror on its roster for the ongoing county championship season. “Auqib is highly likely to be sent to England to play in the county championship. The Indian team think-tank and the BCCI want him to get quality practice of bowling with the red Kookaburra ball, which is also used in Tests in New Zealand and was available in the recent tour of Sri Lanka. Left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who turned out for Yorkshire in white-ball games before leaving for Sri Lanka, will return to the side for red-ball games. Uncapped batting all-rounder Ashutosh Sharma featured for Middlesex in the One-Day Cup, while left-arm spinner R. Sai Kishore is currently playing for Gloucestershire and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is turning out for Northamptonshire.
Brar, who’s played six ODIs so far, is set to come in for Jammu & Kashmir pacer Sunil Kumar in the North Zone playing eleven for their clash against South Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) ground, starting on Sunday. It’s about the Indian team management keen to have him get some red-ball game time, with an eye for him to be ready for the Test series in New Zealand,” said a source familiar with the matter to IANS on Friday.
