Punjab fast bowler Gurnoor Brar got a first India call-up recently after being named in both the Test and ODI squads for the home series against Afghanistan. India's chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, spoke of how Gurnoor has shown promise over the past year and a half playing domestic and India A cricket, and the selectors are keen to see his development with an eye on the 2027 ODI World Cup. At six-five, 26-year-old Gurnoor is a towering presence. He also has the ability to hit the deck hard, and to swing and seam the ball at high pace.
In this conversation, during the IPL playoffs - Gurnoor was part of the Gujarat Titans squad - he speaks about his emotions on getting the India call-up, and his long-term plans.
Did you have some sort of idea that you might to be picked for India?
I was actually sleeping before our training [with Gujarat Titans] the day of the selection. When I woke up, I saw my name was part of the list. I expected that my name would first come in the red-ball [Test] squad before the ODIs, but to see my name in both [squads], I was in shock actually as to what had happened. I can't describe the feelings of that moment, but I am grateful to be picked in both formats and hopefully will do well [if I get to play].
Your parents must be proud too. In an interview in the Indian Express recently your dad said he was looking at you pursuing basketball, which he too had played, as a career. Can you talk about that?
At a young age you always listen to your dad or parents to guide you. He thought I should pursue a career in professional sports like tennis or basketball. Due to my height he felt I could do well at those sports, so I started to play basketball. But I did not find it interesting. It was a case of when you are hooked on one thing your heart and mind don't engage with anything else. While I was training for basketball professionally, in the evening I would return home to play dhuandhar [high-intensity] gully cricket with a tennis ball in the evening. That is how my interest in cricket developed. I was 16 or 17 by the time I switched to professional cricket, playing with the leather ball.
What made you take cricket seriously?
I was in Grade 10 in 2016 when my friend Sachin Bakshi told me we would get one month off from the school to attend a preparatory camp to play district cricket. I was like, what more do I want: get a break from school and play cricket. So initially I went to play cricket for fun.
With the combination of my height and power at that age [16], I used to bowl fast. This was right at the start of my professional career, when I played minor district cricket for Hoshiarpur. The secretary there suggested I should actually play for Mohali in the major district league instead, based on my talent. I played that for two years before playing for Punjab for the first time directly at Under-23 level. I didn't play for the Under-19s at the state level.
I believe Dale Steyn was also a factor in where you are today?
When I used to watch South Africa matches, I enjoyed the aggression of Dale Steyn. You could see the veins on his neck, literally. He would enjoy each and every wicket. Other bowlers would just raise their hand and celebrate normally but his [Steyn's] celebration told you that he wanted that wicket and he earned that wicket. His passion, his hunger, the way he would run in [was fascinating to watch].
Also, for eight years in a row to stay at the No.1 spot in red-ball cricket is not a small thing. That is why I enjoyed watching him - he made me understand why he is the best and what all he did to become the best. Obviously our bowling actions are different, we differ in heights. In terms of resemblance, in my case it would be more like Glenn McGrath or Curtly Ambrose - tall with high bowling action - but to watch and enjoy, for me it was Dale Steyn.
Your Gujarat Titans team-mate Ashok Sharma told us recently how he was also influenced by Steyn. How did you develop this fascination for red-ball cricket considering you have grown up in the IPL generation?
Yes, IPL has been around for quite some time now. And, yes, the focus [for me] has now shifted to T20-league culture, be it Sher-E-Punjab, Delhi Premier League, UPT20, TNPL and several others. But before that it was mainly red ball. We even played T20 matches with the red ball. Also, right from the beginning I have enjoyed bowling a lot and that continues. It is not like I have to monitor my [bowling] load or bowl just two overs or four overs; if my mind [allowed it] I would bowl continuously.
There is also this feeling you get when you see a batsman playing for a long time. As a bowler [you're] thinking from the other end, "Nahin, yaar, isko out karna hain maine. Isko out karna hain." [I have to get him out somehow.] And when you get that nick, when you get that bowled, when you get lbw, or when you pitch that bouncer when he is struggling, that gives me a certain energy, [the fact] that I am making him struggle.
If it is a completely flat wicket where nothing is happening, that is when I will raise my hand to say, I'm here, I will get him out. If I manage to get [someone out] on a flat wicket without any movement, it gives me double the happiness. So that has been part of my inner drive [to succeed] in red-ball cricket.
Red-ball cricket will always remain at the top for me because there is no other format where a cricketer is tested endurance-wise, mentally, skill-wise.
Can you talk about a spell where you kept working to take wickets regardless of the conditions?
Two years back I took 26 wickets in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy. One of my favourite spells was against Madhya Pradesh in Mullanpur, where I took three wickets each in two innings, including that of Rajat bhai [Rajat Patidar, MP captain, in the fourth innings]. It was an almost flat wicket, where there is not much carry, and if there is an edge, it will fall in front, and if you bowl a bouncer, the batter can easily see it. So he [Patidar] was playing well, but I was repeatedly bowling in the same spot, applying a lot of jor [strength], pitching in the same area with the goal that I would get him out. He left one of the deliveries, the ball shaped in slightly, and hit top of off, with the bail falling down. That wicket is one of my favourite wickets still. And that spell. I enjoyed playing that match.
Your height is clearly a point of difference for you. What are your other strengths?
Pace and bounce. The other area I have been working on for quite some time now is to swing the ball at [high] pace. There are different ways to move the ball: one is, you hit the wicket fast and then, if the wicket is good, the ball can move either out or in. But I am getting the ball to swing at pace, and my personal belief is, it is swinging well. My natural strength, which will come very handy for me, is seedha seam pakad ke outswing tez [outswing at pace with an upright seam]. That's it. Basically I am bowling on fourth stump, third stump, which will hit top of off, fast outswing - if he leaves it, he will get bowled and if he tries playing it, I will force a nick.
Parthiv Patel, GT's assistant coach, pointed out that you bowl close to the stumps and your strides in your run-up are small, and that allows you to get steep bounce. Do you agree?
Yes. Similarly, Nehra sir [Ashish Nehra, GT head coach] keeps telling me that my easy run-up and my method of bowling close to the stumps will come in handy in bowling long spells. He also told me that I don't need to change my run-up or my action, I just need to focus on doing what I am doing right now, but work mentally on how I can get the batsman out, what kind of angles I can utilise. He just says pitch in the same area and be consistent.
Kagiso Rabada gave you your IPL debut cap when both of you were playing for Punjab Kings in 2023, and you've been team-mates since, and now at GT. What conversations have you had with him?
When I talk to KG, I want to know how he is bowling those rockets. Main bhi try karta hoon ki main waise hi dum maaroon, waise hi jaan maroon. [I too try and put the same kind of power and heart behind each ball.] He only pats me on his chest and says, "You got that, buddy, you don't need to change anything." So he also is telling me: don't overthink, you are also doing the right thing and you are doing good. That gives more confidence, that an international, world-class bowler is saying that. And he means it.
What about Shubman Gill. Has he given you any inputs?
As you know, he has a lot of hunger inside him. What I mean is, he wants to improve every day, give his best every day. And he pushes all of us players too. When he is batting in training, when I bowl to him, I set myself a challenge, telling myself that he is at his best right now so I have to give my best, and that will only be beneficial for me in the long run. I am in competition with him, where my aim is to make him struggle by delivering my best ball, despite him playing his best every ball. After that we discuss what we could have done and all that.
Ajit Agarkar, the Indian chief selector, recently spoke about how the selection panel is excited about picking youngsters like you, keeping in mind the 2027 ODI World Cup. How are you dealing with those emotions?
I know it is easy to say I don't want to pay too much attention to the expectations people have of me or what they want to see in me, but at the moment I have to improve a lot, and when I get the opportunity to play, I give my best. I have to focus on what I have been doing, because where I have reached in my career, the stage I am at right now, I don't need to change anything - it's onwards and upwards.
I have not come here [just for] the tag that I was in the Indian team. I want to win matches for India. Not just matches, tournaments. How I can fulfill that is what I want to focus on.