Thirty-one-year-old Shahbaz Nadeem made it to the playing XI for his second Test match for India’s home series against England as a replacement for Axar Patel, who was ruled out on the morning of the first Test.

Shahbaz Nadeem had made his Test debut in Ranchi in 2019 against South Africa, but hasn’t been a part of the Test squad since.

It is also just reward for consistently strong domestic performances. Nadeem has  443 first-class wickets in 117 matches with 19 five-wicket hauls.

Who is Shahbaz Nadeem?

He is predominantly a flighty left-arm spinner but is also capable of producing the occasional handy innings from his position in the lower order. He was first called up as cover for Kuldeep for India’s third Test against South Africa, and made a debut, but it took two more years for him to get his second Test cap.

How did he start?

Shahbaz was a promising youngster, making his first-class debut at the age of just 15 years and 114 days. In that game, against Kerala in the Ranji Trophy, he was miserly conceding just 96 runs in 52 overs. He also showed application with the bat, grinding out a boundary-less 99-ball 25 as one of only four players to pass 10 runs for Jharkand.

Two months later he made his debut for India under-19s, having represented the under-15s just two years previously. He went on to make 25 appearances for the U19 side across Tests and ODIs, taking 50 wickets. Thirty-one of those came in his five U19 Tests. In the midst of that streak he also made an appearance for India A, in a List A game against India B.

What happened next?

It wasn’t until 2011/12 that he played more than six first-class games in a season, but since then, he’s gone from strength to strength. He earned an IPL contract in 2011 with Delhi Daredevils but made only a handful of appearances for them that season as the Daredevils opted for a seam-heavy strategy.

RECORD ALERT: 10-4-10-8

Jharkhand’s Shahbaz Nadeem now holds the record for best figures registered in List A Cricket. He picked 8 wickets against Rajasthan. Rahul Sanghvi (8/15) held the previous record.

Details – https://t.co/HzgWSpSwc1 pic.twitter.com/rofaRWgjWn

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) September 20, 2018





In 2012 he appeared more regularly though, and finished with the third-best economy of the 16 players to bowl for Delhi. In 2013 he bettered that – only two bowlers in the entire tournament achieved a better economy than his 5.88 having bowling more than 10 overs.

His first-class performances continued to improve year-on-year. This culminated in back-to-back Ranji seasons in which he took over 50 wickets: 51 wickets in 2015/16 and 56 in 2016/17.

He became a regular fixture for India A in 2017, and since January of that year has taken 87 wickets in 25 matches for the representative side. In 2018 Shahbaz claimed the best-ever List A figures, with a stunning spell of 8-10. He spun the Rajasthan batsmen in knots as he removed their top eight before completing his 10 overs, leaving Anukul Roy to mop up the last two.

Challenges

Now past thirty, it won’t be long before Shahbaz’s age counts heavily against him during selection discussions. With that in mind he will need to seize upon the slightest opportunity. He will need to use his latest call-up to the playing XI to impress, but even then it may not be enough. With so many talented players to pick from, the position of Indian spinner is always hotly contested. In the end he will need Lady Luck on his side.

Final word

“Alone in my room I am always fighting for a place. What else do I need to do to play for India? But then, that’s when my father’s words come to mind – ‘if it’s written in your destiny, then you will play for India.’ This despite him being more desperate than me for the dream to come true.” – Shahbaz Nadeem after his record-breaking List A spell