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Who is Gurnoor Brar?: The ODI and Test squads of the Indian national cricket team have been announced for the upcoming series against Afghanistan starting from June 6. There were some surprising omissions and changes in the team during the squad announcement by chief selector Ajit Agarkar and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devjit Saikia.
The squad was announced late in the afternoon, as one of the surprise selections was Gurnoor Brar, who received his first call-up for the Men in Blue in both the Test and ODI teams. The young fast bowler hails from Punjab and is an old teammate of India captain Shubman Gill. Gurnoor Brar is also a part of the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 team, Gujarat Titans (GT).
Who is Gurnoor Brar, who was selected for the Afghanistan series for the first time?
Gurnoor Brar comes from Sri Muktsar Sahib district of Punjab. He is a 6’5 inches tall hit deck bowler and produces good bounce off the wicket. The 25-year-old fast bowler made his first-class debut in 2022 and made his IPL debut with Punjab Kings in 2023, but 2024 was to be his breakout year. He took 26 wickets in 7 matches during the 2024–25 Ranji Trophy season.
In the same season, he finished as Punjab’s leading wicket-taker. He also led the wicket-takers’ charts in the 2024 Sher-e-Punjab T20 with 22 wickets in 11 matches at an average of 14 and an economy rate of 7.33. Gujarat Titans paid Rs 1.30 crore for him during the 2025 IPL auction. However he played only one game for Punjab Kings in the IPL in 2024.
I used to bowl to him since under-19 days – Gurnoor Brar
Brar has played 18 first-class matches and has been a mainstay for Punjab. His height and ability to generate pace caught the attention of the selectors and he is now a regular in India. A team has taken 12 wickets in three matches so far.
Shubman Gill, who had already noticed Brar’s talent. “I used to bowl to him since my under-19 days. I remember when he was playing for India Under-19, he participated in some Katoch Shield matches. He saw me bowling and helped me join the district team. “I played for Mohali and then I was selected for the Punjab Under-23 team,” Brar told The Times of India.
He showed promise – Ajit Agarkar on Brar’s performance
BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar has identified Brar as ‘a player for the future’. Agarkar had said, “We are always on the lookout. We haven’t had any overseas tours for a while, so we have more time. He has shown promise and the India A tour has given us a chance to see him.”
India’s ODI team: Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey.
India’s test team: Shubman Gill (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vice-captain) Sai Sudarshan, Rishabh Pant, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel.
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