Birmingham, June 29 (IANS) Left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar, who was recently spotted bowling in India’s practice sessions ahead of their second Test against England, has revealed that a text message from skipper Shubman Gill got him to bowl to the batters in the two-day training session.

India are aiming to bounce back in the second Test at Edgbaston, starting on July 2, after losing the series opener in Leeds by five wickets. “I met my friends on foreign soil. My wife is from Swindon. It’s quite close – a one and a half hour drive from Birmingham.”

“I was talking to Shubman yesterday and he sent me a text. I thought, let’s go and practice there (in Birmingham). It’s a different feeling – it feels like we have come together as a family,” said Brar, who played for Punjab Kings in IPL 2025, in a video posted on bcci.tv. on Sunday.

Apart from him, the touring Indian team had the services of Chandigarh pacer Jagjit Singh Sandhu, who is currently in Birmingham due to his cricket commitments. “It didn’t feel like I hadn’t spoken to them for a long time. They were all like, oh? They were all surprised. I play first class cricket for Chandigarh. Then I got to know of this and came here to bowl in the nets session of the Indian team,” he said.

Turns out, Jagjit knows a lot of members of the Indian team very well, especially young left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh. “So Rishabh Pant and I played together in the U19 zone one day competition. Shubman Gill was in first season in the U19 zone, while it was my last season in that age-group.”

“I played with Akash Deep in the Duleep Trophy. I played with Washington Sundar in the U19 zone. He was in the South Zone and I was in the North Zone. Arshdeep is my junior. When I was in the U19 zone, he was in the U16 zone.”

“When Arshdeep was in U16, I used to tell him how to bowl and take a run up. He still asks me which ball is better and how should I bowl to a batter and get swing. I feel very proud when I see Arshdeep doing what he is doing now.”

Speaking about the feeling of reconnecting with his friends on overseas soil, Arshdeep stated, “When you come to a foreign country and you see familiar faces, you can enjoy together. When I was young, I used to follow him a lot. His name is Jagjit, all used to call him Punjabi. He was playing in the U19 zone and I was in the U16 zone.”

“I used to follow whatever he did. I learnt a lot from him. He still says that I remember the old days when I was young and new into the set-up. I just want to make more memories like this and collect them for my memory.”

–IANS

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