Mumbai: “Ab to milenge. Bus short-pitched ball mat daalna,” Rashid Khan ribs Gurnoor Brar in a widely watched Gujarat Titans video about their impending battle in next month’s India-Afghanistan ODI series.
Before he was bought for ₹1.3 crore by GT in the 2025 IPL auction, Brar had played a solitary IPL match, for Punjab Kings in 2023. However, the national selectors had been watching the tall Punjab fast bowler. “Over the last season and a half”, according to national chief selector Ajit Agarkar.
Brar’s selection over Auqib Nabi for the Afghanistan Test is a classic case of attributes prevailing, while the latter’s red-ball skills, and the ability to move the ball in the air and off the seam, saw him take 60 wickets in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ranji Trophy win last season. It included a five-wicket innings haul in the final against Karnataka on a flat pitch.
However, it was nowhere as left field as England selecting Shoaib Bashir on a viral forward from captain Ben Stokes to the selector’s WhatsApp group. Picked for his higher release point to a traditional off-spinner, Bashir, 22, ended up with 18 wickets in three Tests on debut in India, adding to his modest haul of 10 first-class wickets.
It won’t be surprising if Nabi feels hard done by. His showings in the Duleep Trophy too left no one in doubt about his ability. Against South Zone, the 29-year-old picked up the prized scalps of KL Rahul, Karun Nair and Mayank Agarwal with his nagging accuracy.
Brar, 25, was selected despite his modest first-class record (52 wkts, 18 matches, avg 27.3) compared to Nabi (156 wkts, 41 matches, avg 18.37). By traditional metrics, being the leading wicket-taker for the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season and the top bowler among fast bowlers the previous season (joint second overall with 44 scalps), Nabi had made a strong case.
If and when the 6’5” Brar makes his Test debut, he will be among the tallest pacers to turn out for India. Abey Kuruvilla was inches taller. Ishant Sharma was an inch shorter. Though those extra inches may not have dictated his selection, they did boost Brar’s prospects. The right-arm pacer has a high release point, extracts steep bounce and consistently bowls 140kph, say those who have faced him. These attributes have always been in high demand in Indian cricket. As an 18-year-old, Brar had a stint in the Mumbai Indians nets.
“With Gurnoor, we have seen a lot of promise over the last season-and-a-half. He is a tall guy with a bit of pace,” Agarkar said. “Keeping the South Africa World Cup (2027) in mind, we are going to try a few guys who at that point might be useful if they keep developing.”
It was in India’s failed 2022 Test tour of South Africa that they sorely felt the need for pacers who could bowl the heavy ball. Then India coach Rahul Dravid had spoken about South Africa’s “natural height advantage” prevailing over Indian bowlers “who tend to pitch the ball up, kiss the surface a little bit more” on an up-and-down surface in the deciding Centurion Test.
Fast bowling picks are often judgement calls. High pace is an ability that selectors look for. That’s how Umran Malik and Mayank Yadav were fast tracked in white-ball cricket. For Tests, the bowler needs a stronger core. The push for taller pacers has been evident in the selections of Prasidh Krishna to Harshit Rana.
Domestic neglect
It’s equally important to see whether frequent selections based on passing the eye test over domestic numbers undermine the value of Ranji Trophy. It’s an established practice since Dravid’s foray into Indian cricket to filter talent through the extra layer of A series, which is considered a notch above Ranji and a stepping stone to Tests.
Brar impressed against Australia A at home last year with eight scalps in two first-class matches. In his stints as a net bowler with the India team, Brar has dismissed Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. He is rated highly by Shubman Gill, his state captain and good friend.
Nabi is set to be picked for the four-day matches against Sri Lanka A. Further opportunities could help him make the push for the New Zealand tour in October. With Jasprit Bumrah to join Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna for the Sri Lanka Tests in August, it was felt Brar, with his hard lengths, could be a better back up.
“With taller baller, it is just the bounce. Their length will get more bounce than a bowler who releases it,” said Steffan Jones, a seasoned fast bowling coach. “But I always go back to the simple things. It does not matter how the bowler looks, what action he has or how tall he is. He still has to be a good bowler, bowl the ball in the right areas enough times based on your individuality.”
