The 2004 season began frustratingly for Kabir, as injury prevented him from playing until the end of May. However, some good performances in midsummer brought him a place in the squad for the Champions Trophy tournament in September, and he retained his place for the winter tour of South Africa (see above). Kabir's performances in early 2005 were unspectacular, but nevertheless he was named in the 14-man squad for that summer's triangular one-day series with Australia and Bangladesh. He played in none of the games, however, and was replaced by Matt Prior for the three-game ODI series against Australia which immediately followed.