Indian captain Shubman Gill invited left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar of the Punjab Kings to train with the national squad prior to the second Test match against England at Edgbaston. Following a respectable IPL 2025 campaign, the 29-year-old joined the Indian squad on Saturday during their practice session in Birmingham as a guest net bowler.
The tourists travelled to Birmingham for the second Test of the five-match series following a dismal loss in the first Test at Headingley, where England chased down a 371-run total. Harpreet Brar, meantime, disclosed that he got a text message from Gill the day before he joined the team’s practice session and that he is now in the UK visiting his wife’s family in Swindon.
“Swindon is where my wife comes from. Birmingham is only a one to one and a half-hour drive away. Shubman (Gill), who texted me yesterday, and I were conversing. I so reasoned that we should go to Birmingham and practise there. It feels fantastic the way he (Arshdeep) is doing it. I’m really proud.
The sensation is different. In the BCCI video, Harpreet Brar remarked, “It feels like you are among your own family.”
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The left-arm spinner was observed bowling to Gill, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, and the other hitters in the practice session while sporting unofficial training gear. Arshdeep Singh, a teammate of his from the Punjab Kings, said it felt unique to see old friends in a strange country. “You encounter familiar people when you travel to a different nation. so that you two can have fun,” he replied.
Jagjit Singh on giving Arshdeep Singh bowling advice
Another Chandigarh-based domestic pacer, Jagjit Singh Sandhu, joined Brar. Jagjit has also expressed how thrilled he is to be joining as a guest net bowler. He added that he played age-group cricket alongside Washington Sundar, Gill, Pant, and Arshdeep. He also talked about how, at the age of 16, he gave Arshdeep bowling advice.
For one day, Rishabh Pant and I participated in the Under-19 Zone. My final under-19 season coincided with Shubman Gill’s debut. I participated in the Delhi Cup with Akash Deep. I participated in the under-19 zonal games with Washington Sundar. While I was in the North zone, he was in the South. Among my juniors is Arshdeep. He was 16 when I was 19. When he was sixteen, I used to teach him how to sprint up, bowl, and other skills. And he was still asking me today which batter should be bowled from and which ball swing is best,” Jagjit remarked.
I used to follow him around a lot when I was little. Everyone refers to him as Punjabi, yet his name is Jagjit. He was playing as a senior under-19 at the time. I was therefore in the under-16 division. I used to attempt to follow him around whenever he did something. He taught me a lot of things. He then adds, “Yeah, I do recall the good old days when you were young and new here,” to which Arshdeep replied.
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