Gurjapneet Singh is yet to play an IPL or List A game, and has played just five T20s, but has bolted into the India A squad for the upcoming unofficial ODI series against Australia A in Kanpur from September 30. Having made his Ranji Trophy debut for Tamil Nadu last October, the left-arm quick has since had a stint with the senior India side as a net bowler, earned his maiden IPL gig, with Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and entered the BCCI's pool of targeted fast bowlers.
Things have happened quickly for Gurjapneet in the past year, but he has taken a long and winding road to get to India A. Born in Ludhiana in Punjab and raised in Ambala in Haryana, he moved to Chennai when he was around 17. After toiling away in Chennai's sapping heat in league cricket for around seven years, the step up has been swift.
Most recently, the 26-year-old emerged as the highest wicket-taker among seamers in the Duleep Trophy, with ten strikes in two games at an average of 24.10, including two four-wicket hauls.
At six feet four inches, he hits the deck and generates extra bounce. He also swings the ball both ways. India's selectors and even IPL franchises have cast their nets wide for tall fast bowlers in the recent past. Prasidh Krishna has graduated to the Test team while Punjab's Gurnoor Brar has now been fast-tracked into the India A set-up along with Gurjapneet. Jammu & Kashmir's tall fast bowler Yudhvir Singh Charak has also made the India A squad though his List A and first-class averages are not flash.
In his short career at the senior level, Gurjapneet has dismissed Cheteshwar Pujara on Ranji Trophy debut, and Virat Kohli, albeit at the Chepauk nets when he was a support bowler during India's Test series against Bangladesh last year. He's now preparing to front up to some international batters from Australia in the unofficial ODI series.
"My rhythm has been good in the Duleep Trophy and [I] have also been working with Troy Cooley and others in Bengaluru," Gurjapneet tells ESPNcricinfo. "They spoke to me about the bowling approach in days' cricket and one day-cricket and [the] mindset. I've also been doing my rehab and gym. Right now, I'm not thinking too much about who the batsman is or how the situation [at India A] will be. It's important to follow your process and habits and just keep doing that."
"I just feel because of my height, I get extra bounce and especially with the slower one, it's difficult when I get extra bounce or help from the wicket or something... I think it will just give me a little bit of an extra advantage"
Gurjapneet married those skills with smarts in the Duleep Trophy final at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence ground. Once the pace in the pitch died down and the ball got softer, Gurjapneet tested Central Zone captain Rajat Patidar with short balls, with two men out in the deep on the leg side, and eventually had him top-edging a weak hook to the keeper.
"That afternoon, the wicket was not helping much and the ball was old," Gurjapneet recalls. "I spoke to the captain [Mohammed Azharuddeen] also and thought we could just try bouncers to Patidar for two-three overs. Because he always tried to hit a pull shot and never ducked [under] the ball. So, I thought even if we give runs, we have an opportunity for a wicket. So, we took that risk. I kept bowling bouncers and we got him out."
Gurjapneet also has the back-of-the-hand slower variation in his repertoire, a handy option in white-ball cricket. It's because of these variations that he had CSK, Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants locked in a bidding war for him during the IPL 2025 auction.
"It's about practice," Gurjapneet says. "It's not a big thing to think about. I feel I have bowled a lot of it in practice and I try to execute it. I just feel because of my height, I get extra bounce and especially with the slower one, it's difficult when I get extra bounce or help from the wicket or something... I think it will just give me a little bit of an extra advantage."
While Gurjapneet didn't get a game at CSK in the early half of IPL 2025 and was then sidelined from the second half with a groin injury, he remained with the squad and underwent rehab. At CSK, he also had the chance to pick the brains of Khaleel Ahmed.
"At CSK, Tommy [Simsek] gave me the fitness programme and I was following it," Gurjapneet says. "Then I was working with the TNCA physios. At CSK, I used to speak with Khaleel bhai about my bowling and he shared points about bowling, especially in T20 cricket, and I've been able to use those learnings."
After recovering from injury, Gurjapneet steadily built up his load and rhythm by bowling in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), first-division league in Chennai, BCCI's Centre of Excellence, and Duleep Trophy.
"I started bowling in TNPL and I was getting better day by day," Gurjapneet says. "I'm getting the rhythm again. I also played a few league matches in Chennai before the Duleep Trophy. I was ready for the Duleep Trophy and right now mentally and physically I can say I'm getting better."
Gurjapneet has also been working on his batting and showed improvement there during TNPL 2025 where he clattered ten boundaries in 33 balls, including six sixes. He then played out 81 balls for 29 runs from No. 9 for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy semi-final.
"Whatever the coaches suggested to me, like I was working with Mike Hussey also at CSK," Gurjapneet says. "I then batted in the TNPL and even in my first Duleep match against North, I scored something like 29. It's about adding to your game and contributing with the bat too. Hussey gave me some points and I'm also trying to get better at batting."
With a whirlwind year now under his belt, Gurjapneet is now ready for the step up against the Australians in Kanpur.