Six-foot-five and climbing: The rapid rise of Gurnoor Brar

Two days before Gujarat Titans' final league fixture of IPL 2026, Gurnoor Brar decided that the best preparation for an evening practice session would be to take an afternoon nap. Little did he know that he would wake up to a dream coming to fruition.

While he was sleeping, India's squads for the one-off Test and three ODIs against Afghanistan had been announced. Gurnoor, six days shy of turning 26, was named in both squads – his first selection in the senior team.

"I was extremely happy and I got a call from my family first. It felt really good," Gurnoor tells Cricbuzz. "Then all the players in the GT camp congratulated me."

Gurnoor's selection came as a surprise to many despite being on the selectors' radar over the 2025-26 season. He hadn't broken down the door in his 18 first-class matches to date, even as his numbers – 52 wickets at 27.3 and a strike-rate of 45.3 – made for good reading. Few would argue that this was a selection based on attributes and ceiling.

At 6ft 5in, Gurnoor's towering height lends him an advantage that few seamers in India boast of. It stems from strong genetics: his father, now a police officer, once played basketball at the national level; his younger brother Varnoor (16), also a professional cricketer, is nearly as tall as Gurnoor.

His foray into serious cricket came fairly late into his schooling days – he was 15 before he opted to pursue it full time. Until then, he was one among many street cricket specialists in Mohali.

"We used to play tennis ball cricket near our house," says Gurnoor. "I did not want to bowl spin since my mindset was 'tez daloonga, toh hi bachoonga' ('I will survive only if I bowl quick') else I will get hit for sixes. I watched more videos and then took it up seriously. Then I got the belief that I can bowl quick and I have that extra ability and height that comes from my genetics."

Encouraged by his family, Gurnoor enrolled at Champions Cricket Academy where he spent three years under coach Ravi Verma. With no idea on the selection process for the state team, Gurnoor pursued what came naturally to him – bowling fast.

"I only knew one thing – the Indian team," Gurnoor admits. That focus remained as he made his mark at the district level, while looking up to South African legend Dale Steyn's aggression. "As though he's going to eat the batter," he remarks of his idol.

To best serve his development, Gurnoor made a switch to work under Varinder Singh, who specialises in training quicks. Under Varinder's guidance at the Launching Pad Cricket Academy – home to the likes of Ashwani Kumar and Ramandeep Singh – Gurnoor made significant strides.

Observing him for the first time, Varinder spotted Gurnoor's ability to consistently clock speeds in the 135 km/h range at age 19. An emphasis was placed on increasing those speeds and developing his muscles.

"When we worked on his strength and his muscles, his pace also increased by 10 km/h," Varinder tells Cricbuzz. He affirms that Gurnoor's front-foot contact stood out from his peers, enabling him to bowl quicker, while also waxing lyrical about his disciplined routine.

"If I ask him to come to the ground by 5 in the morning, he will be there on time. He never turns up late. He also picks things up very quickly. On top of that is his confidence which sets him apart from the rest," Varinder details.

Amidst all this was a love for batting. Gurnoor, who bats left-handed, always carried the enthusiastic urge to pad up and walk in when his team was in strife.

These traits assisted Gurnoor in his steady rise up the ladder as he represented Punjab at the U23 level. A senior debut followed in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22, and his Ranji Trophy debut came a year later in dramatic circumstances. With the pitch at Delhi's Karnail Singh Stadium deemed dangerous, Punjab's fixture against Railways restarted on the adjacent strip. Gurnoor announced his arrival with returns of 4/16 as Railways were bowled out for 102.

2023 saw the high of an IPL contract as a replacement for the injured Raj Angad Bawa at Punjab Kings. Gurnoor should have had KL Rahul out first ball against Lucknow Super Giants but a straightforward chance went down at backward point. He wasn't picked again.

2023 also saw Gurnoor grapple with a major injury. An increased workload told on his back, as he developed a stress fracture that sidelined him from the 2023-24 domestic season.

This brought a period of introspection. Gurnoor had to build his way up towards bowling fast again, but he was determined to take a leap that would catapult him towards higher honours.

"He told me, 'Paaji, I just want to play for India. I want to prepare to get into the Indian team,'" Varinder recalls.

Thus began a three-month training regime with multiple stints commencing as early as 5 in the morning. Changes were brought to Gurnoor's action and load-up.

"For one month I made him bowl at 100 km/h. I told him that for a month, he had to focus only on his action and swing," Varinder says.

"The load-up was coming from behind, we turned it a little front-on. This improved his stability, because of which his outswinger got better and it swung more. Then we planned a strength session with him."

Bowling with a short run-up at 100 km/h was not easy for a bowler who specialised in clocking high speeds. But Gurnoor had no second thoughts over Varinder's approach. "There is a relationship of trust between a teacher and a student. He never cross-questioned me about it," Varinder says.

The changes worked wonders. Gurnoor emerged as the highest wicket-taker at the Sher E Punjab T20 Cup in 2024 with 22 scalps. He returned to the senior setup and topped the wicket charts for Punjab in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season with 26 wickets from 7 matches at an average of 20.3.

In between this was a stint in the nets of the senior Indian team in Chennai ahead of the Test series against Bangladesh. Bowling to the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, and feeding off bowling coach Morne Morkel, was an enriching experience.

There's been no looking back since for Gurnoor, who was snapped up by GT for INR 1.3 crore at the IPL mega auction in November 2024. The following year, an India A spot also came his way and he returned 8 wickets from two matches against the visiting Australia A side.

Such was the quality of GT's frontline pace attack, however, that Gurnoor has had to wait to add to his solitary IPL cap from 2023. He duly used his time to tap into the experience of Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj, as well as head coach Ashish Nehra.

"No matter what challenges are thrown at him, whether he is in the team or not, he always remains the same. He is never too worried about things," says Varinder.

"Every kid dreams of playing for India and I've been picked for both Tests and ODIs so nothing can be bigger than that for me," Gurnoor says. "But I am not letting it get to my head. I am staying stable so that when I get a chance to play and wear that jersey, I want to play for the sheer joy of wearing it and not by putting unnecessary pressure on myself. I want to represent India with pride and show that I belong here."

Years of hard work with its share of setbacks have brought him to the cusp of an India cap. For the boy who once knew nothing but the Indian team, it is no longer a dream.