Over a decade ago, a young left-arm spinner from Ludhiana would stay back after training at the Punjab Cricket Association Academy in Mohali, just to bowl a few extra overs. Among those who quietly faced him in the nets was a wiry 12-year-old with a serious look and quick feet. That boy was Shubman Gill.
“I have known Shubman since he was a kid, but I don’t know if he remembers me,” said Simranjeet Singh, now 35 and preparing for the biggest game of his cricketing career — an Asia Cup clash against India.
“It was around 2011 or 2012. We used to train from 6am to 11am, and Shubman would come with his father right at the end. I was someone who bowled a lot after our session was over. I must have bowled to him countless times,” he recalls with a smile, standing far away from home but on the brink of facing the Indian national side.
A crafty slow left-arm orthodox spinner, Simranjeet’s journey didn’t follow the typical domestic-to-India route. He played district cricket in Punjab, made the Ranji probables in 2017, and bowled often in Kings XI Punjab nets. The breakthrough, however, never came.
The COVID-19 pandemic became a turning point. Stuck in Dubai during the 2021 lockdown after coming for a short training stint, he ended up staying. He began coaching junior cricketers and playing club cricket, eventually qualifying to play for UAE.
“From 2021, I started earning decent money coaching kids here. I contacted Lalchand Rajput sir after fulfilling the domestic criteria and got a trial,” he says. That chance led to a central contract and a place in the national squad.
UAE head coach Lalchand Rajput described him as a bowler who “knows how to buy wickets with flight” — rare in modern T20 cricket. His numbers back that up: 15 wickets in 12 T20Is with an economy of under six. Just four days ago, against Afghanistan, he returned with figures of 1 for 24, including 11 dot balls.
Simranjeet said he has been given complete religious freedom in the UAE. “No one has ever questioned my beard, my kara, or why I wear a kirpan,” he says.
Asked who his family will support when he bowls to Shubman Gill under the lights in Abu Dhabi, he bursts out laughing. “That’s a tough one. The dream was to play for India, but now that I’m playing for UAE, I think they will support UAE.”