Three years in the making: Gurnoor Brar repays Shubman Gill’s faith and shows he’s no one-trick pony

India captain Shubman Gill, left, congratulates Gurnoor Brar for taking three wickets. (AP photo) TimesofIndia.com in Dharamsala: Fittingly, Gurnoor Brar’s first international wicket has Shubman Gill’s name on it: Ibrahim Zadran caught by Shubman Gill, bowled by Gurnoor Brar. Had it not been for Gill, the 26-year-old could have been just another Indian pacer who vanished into thin air after impressing everyone with his speed.By his own admission, Brar was quick and erratic and learned the hard way after a memorable Indian Premier League (IPL) debut for Punjab Kings in 2023. The start might have been a dream, but KL Rahul’s chance of regulation was forgotten. Then they took him to the cleaners and came back with a lesson.“Tez ball se paaji ab koi darta nahi chahe aap 155 hi kyu na daal rahe ho (No one is afraid of mere pace now). I learned it the hard way,” he told TimesofIndia.com after being picked in the Indian team.The lesson was followed by injuries and unsold in the IPL auction. Before the start of IPL 2024, the career took a different turn when he got a helping hand from Gill who asked him to join Gujarat Titans (GT) as a bowler. But Gill had one condition: that he shed his stubbornness to hit the back of a length five times in an over and start bowling in full.“Shubman puts a lot of pressure on you. He’s never satisfied and he doesn’t let his teammates stay satisfied,” Brar said.For the past two years, Gurnoor has been a part of the GT team but has yet to get a single game. The reason was simple: the 16-foot-five pitcher was still a work in progress. Even during the IPL, Brar was told to bounce with the red ball to improve his length and practice more control. He did as his captain and childhood friend asked.He slowly got his rewards. He was picked in the India A squad, where he caught the attention of the selectors when he played his heart out against Australia A in the unofficial Test matches at a quiet Lucknow track. His ability to bowl long spells, extract bounces from the surface and mainly strengthen his back-of-a-length deliveries along with a marked improvement in bowling full lengths has stood out.Brar picked up three wickets in his 29-ball spell at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamsala on Saturday, impressing everyone not only with his pace but also with his length.“Very impressive the way Gurnoor bowled, brilliant pace and the way he bowled, the kind of length he bowled consistently,” captain Shubman Gill told broadcasters after India’s six-wicket win over Afghanistan.

Gurnoor Brar (AP photo)

Sharing the new ball with his Punjab counterpart Arshdeep Singh, Brar went all out in his first spell and took his first wicket with his fifth ball. It was a length delivery that went away late on. Zadran went into the drive, got the leading edge in the air and Gill, running backwards at mid-on, completed the catch. He had Sediqullah Atal trapped on the next ball, though India lost.After bowling bigger lengths in his first spell, Brar switched to the short ball in the second. Although he leaked a couple of boundaries, he outwitted his GT teammate Rashid Khan with a full, straight delivery. Anticipating another bouncer, Rashid was already on the back foot but Brar changed his length. The former Afghanistan captain swung hard, missed and watched the ball hit his leg stump. Brar finished with three wickets on debut and got to the back on the third day of the day.It’s still early days but Brar has hinted that he has what it takes to make the flight to the 2027 ODI World Cup. In a press conference after selecting the team for the Afghanistan series, India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar spoke about how Gurnoor has shown promise in domestic and India A cricket over the last year and a half and why the selectors are keen to look at his development with an eye on the 2027 ODI World Cup.With Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj set to return to the ODI line-up closer to the World Cup, Brar will add freshness to India’s pace attack as the first change bowler. Brar is tall, hits the deck hard and swings and seams at high pace. Add to that the ability to nail yorkers and make the old ball turn.Brar did not have a quick rise. He realized that speed only excites him. Friendly advice from ODI and Test captain Gill enabled him to learn the tricks of the trade at Gujarat Titans and he is now reaping the rewards of hours of grind. Father Sukhbir Singh Brar had his hands folded when Zadran mishit. The moment Gill completed the catch, Brar senior celebrated his son’s debut wicket with great enthusiasm and received several pats on the back from Lakhwinder Singh Gill, Shubman’s father, who was sitting right next to him.“Tu aa ja, kaafi seekhega (You will learn a lot),” Gill told Brar as he extended an invitation to join GT as a bowler. Little Brar would have known then that the advice would change the life of him and his family in a few years.