Jammu and Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi became the third player from the region to represent India in international cricket, making his debut against West Indies in the second ODI on Wednesday.

Known as the 'Baramulla Express', Nabi follows Parvez Rasool and Umran Malik, the only other J&K players to appear for India in international cricket. He replaced Nitish Reddy after captain Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to bowl.

Parvez became the first Kashmiri to represent India in 2014 when he was picked for an ODI against Bangladesh in Dhaka.

The all-rounder played one more match for India, a T20I against England in Kanpur in 2017 before getting discarded.

Umran made waves with his raw pace and was fast-tracked to the national side, debuting in a T20I against Ireland in Dublin.

The pacer has played 10 ODIs and eight T20Is for India, but has been out of the side since July 2023.

Meanwhile, Auqib’s selection was a long-time coming. The pacer took 60 wickets last season as J&K won their first Ranji Trophy title, 104 across the past two seasons, and also impressed for Surrey in County cricket.

He was then called up for August's Sri Lanka Tests but did not play.

India lead the three-match series 1-0 after an eight-wicket win in the opener, when Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli both struck centuries.