Mumbai batsman Siddhesh Lad has launched a scathing attack on the Indian selection panel headed by Ajit Agarkar after Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler Auqib Nabi was ignored in India’s selection for the upcoming one-off Test against Afghanistan despite a dream Ranji Trophy season.
Despite consistent performances in the Ranji Trophy, Auqib Nabi was overlooked for the upcoming Afghanistan Test. Instead, the Indian selectors picked Prince Yadav despite making only a few first-class appearances after making headlines in IPL 2026 with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
Siddhesh Lad attacked the selectors after Auqib Nabi did not get a place in India’s Test team.
Now, Siddhesh Lad has openly questioned the current selection process and claimed that Ranji Trophy performance is losing its value in Indian cricket. He also criticized Ajit Agarkar and his team for giving a dangerous message to the youth that shining in the IPL is more important than performing consistently in first-class cricket.
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Auqib Nabi has excelled for Jammu and Kashmir and played a big role in the team’s historic Ranji Trophy winning campaign in the 2025-26 season. In the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season, Auqib Nabi took 44 wickets at an impressive average of above 13.
The fast bowler became even more dangerous in recent seasons and became the leading wicket-taker of the tournament with a sensational 60 wickets. Auqib Nabi has been consistently performing well and is fit, and the match-winning spells were ignored as Prince was handed a call-up for India for the first time.
IPL becomes the benchmark to make a place in the Indian team – Siddhesh Lad
Times of India quoted Lad as saying, “I think you are 100% right when you say that performing well in the IPL is the standard to make a place in the Indian team. The bitter truth is that domestic cricket performances are ignored by the national selectors. The Ranji Trophy has been devalued. I will not deny that.”
He further said, “I am not saying that I have performed well so pick me in the Indian team, but I think someone like Auqib Nabi, if he has worked so hard and single-handedly won the Ranji Trophy for Jammu and Kashmir, which is not so easy, has performed exceptionally well in the Ranji Trophy, then he deserves to be selected in the India Test team.”
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Lad, who played more than 80 first-class matches for Mumbai, questioned the relevance of the Ranji Trophy itself if top performers continued to be overlooked for selection in India.
You are sending wrong message to domestic cricketers- Siddhesh Lad
Taking a sharp dig at the BCCI and the selectors, he said that any player’s chances in India now completely depend on the IPL. “You are giving the wrong message to domestic cricketers: even if you perform well in the Ranji Trophy, it doesn’t make any difference to your cricketing career, but if you perform well in a few matches in the IPL, you can make a place in India’s Test team,” he said.
In the beginning, everyone used to say, ‘If you perform in Ranji Trophy, you will play for India; If you don’t perform, you won’t.’ But in the end, when we actually see the selection, a lot of things go wrong.
Lad also highlighted the Mumbai connection in India selection. He signed off by saying, “If the player is playing well in the T20 Mumbai League, there is a shortcut for him to play in the IPL later and make a place in the Indian team.”