The sun sets and a new dawn begins. For a few years, Gurjapneet Singh, the Tamil Nadu pace bowler, might have thought of that line while navigating his cricketing journey. At 17, he left his hometown in Haryana and came all the way to Tamil Nadu to pursue his ambitions. And it took the left-arm pacer another seven to eight years to realise a part of his dreams – Playing his maiden first-class game.
October 11, 2024 turned out to be a momentous day in Gurjapneet’s fledgling career, with the 6’3″ fast bowler donning the white flannels for Tamil Nadu to take on Saurashtra in a Ranji Trophy game. The pacer went on to ace the challenge by bagging a six-wicket haul in the second innings. Moreover, he also took the prized scalp of a top-order batter known for his deep reservoirs of patience – Cheteshwar Pujara. Just peel the outside coating, and you will notice how Gurjapneet went about outmanoeuvring the veteran batter.
“I was bowling from over the stumps, I didn’t feel anything extraordinary was happening,” he told RevSportz. “So, I came around the stumps, I gave him a good bouncer. I wanted him to be slightly late on my front-foot ball (fuller in length). Then a good-length ball, I wanted him to play on the front foot. With that mix-up and plan, I got his wicket off the sixth ball.
“That was kind of a dream debut. I was playing my first match in the Ranji Trophy, against the Saurashtra team. It was a very good team in red-ball cricket. Very strong batting line-up, all of them are very experienced. My main focus was to do the basics. Whatever I did in the past, I just wanted to deliver that. That is what I tried and ended up with six wickets.”
Gurjapneet delved deeper to share his thoughts on sowing the seeds of doubt in the batter’s mind by creating angles and using the width of the crease. “It is just about simple angles, in T20s and red-ball cricket,” he said. “You think of angles, wide of the crease, coming round the wicket for the right-hander, against the left-hander. I don’t want the batsman to get settled down with one angle, so if you keep changing, it will give you some extra advantage. That is what I am trying to do.”
There is another version of the game which continues to be a litmus test for the bowlers – The T20 format. In an era where batters are ever-ready to try out audacious shots like the scoop and lap, it has become rather difficult for the pace bowlers to nail the yorkers. How does Gurjapneet look at the trial by fire of bowling in different phases of a T20 innings, especially in the end overs?
“For every fast bowler, it is a tough job to deliver that yorker,” he said. “First, you need confidence. Sometimes, even if you have the ability but not the confidence, you won’t deliver. The main thing is to keep practicing. Keep building your muscle memory to bowl a yorker according to where the batsman is standing. Is he standing too deep in the crease or in front? Or how is he moving around? Or is he going across to the fourth stump/off stump or just away from the leg stump?
“Sometimes, when the batsman is ready for the yorkers, we can give him a good surprise bouncer. Sometimes, the batsman doesn’t expect a bouncer or a length delivery, sometimes they also get bluffed. We have to see how the batsman is reacting. If he is ready for the yorker, then we can deliver something else. The next ball, we can give him a surprise yorker. These things we have to observe from a batsman’s point of view – What is he expecting from me? What do I have to deliver?”
By now, one can gauge that here is a cricketer who is always eager to understand the nuances of fast bowling. Incidentally, around the time Gurjapneet made his Ranji debut, he was also bowling in the nets to a certain Virat Kohli, with the latter preparing for a Test series against Bangladesh. Gurjapneet grabbed the opportunity of having a discussion with the former India skipper in order to imbibe the finer points of pace bowling.
“We were practicing, I was bowling well, he got beaten again and again, then I got his wicket… bowled,” said Gurjapneet. “After the practice, he was very impressed with my bowling. After that we had a chat, he said, ‘You can use these kinds of small things, bowling from over the stumps, bowling round the stumps, again.’ I said, ‘Okay, I will keep working on it, keeping these things in my mind.’
“(Also) Working on my swing, both inswing and outswing. I am naturally not that kind of a bowler, but I want to add these skills as well, so that it will help me in the future.”
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Many moons ago, outfoxing a batter on a cricket pitch wasn’t Gurjapneet’s only worry. He had something else to think about – How to chart a turnaround in his fortunes. Born in Ludhiana and brought up in Ambala, Gurjapneet had already set goals for himself but he couldn’t find the elusive path that would help him to fulfil his aspirations. At that pivotal moment in his career, Anil Mashi, his childhood coach, suggested that he shift to Chennai.
“I was not getting good opportunities,” said Gurjapneet. “For me, cricket is the main thing, I am not thinking where I have to go, how I will survive. One of my coaches told me, ‘Why don’t you try in Chennai?’ Because he played his cricket at a young age in Chennai – league cricket and all.
“In 2014, ’15, ’16 and ’17, those 3-4 years, maybe, I was searching for the right way to go (about things). It was a very confusing, messed-up system over there. During that time I realised this is not me. I come from a middle-class family background, so I have limited resources. I have to take care of those things, then I realised why can’t I try somewhere else, in some other state? So, I came here to Chennai. Slowly I built it up here, and I finally got the results.”
The unassuming and friendly Gurjapneet was also able to seamlessly assimilate himself into a slightly different way of life in Chennai. “Every state has its own language, their own tastes,” he said. “I like to enjoy everywhere, I am the kind of person who enjoys the moments, vibes… I like to enjoy different cuisines. And language is not an issue with me. I used to manage.”
Ultimately, in 2021, a flare of light guided him to higher honours – Gurjapneet was picked up by Dindigul Dragons to play in the TNPL. Gurjapneet didn’t just bag seven wickets in that tournament, but as always, he had his ears open for any piece of advice from his seniors or coaches. Yo Mahesh, former Tamil Nadu pacer and a coach at Dindigul Dragons, provided him with valuable insights.
“Yo Mahesh gave me a lot of tips, lots of confidence as well because I was playing T20 cricket for the first time in front of big cameras,” he said. “So, you need confidence from someone, which gives you more clarity under pressure. Sometimes, as a bowler, under pressure, we get confused which ball you have to bowl. During that time, we have options but we are confused. (Mahesh said), ‘Work on your strengths, if you have a good slower one, good yorker, go for it.’ He gave me good clarity.”
Gurjapneet still had to overcome one more hurdle – an injury blow. It almost feels as if any professional fast bowler would have signed a pact with injuries. And Gurjapneet is no different. In 2022, he too was laid low by a back problem. “After the first TNPL, I got injured. During that time, I had a lower back issue, there was a stress reaction. It took almost 7-8 months for me to get back to bowling.
“It was a good learning (experience for me), my physio worked hard on me, I recovered and came back with a good impression, and I wanted to do my best. I didn’t want to miss another year. From that time, I started working on those small things, where we need to work on our fitness. The body parts, how these mechanisms work. It helped me to stay fit and bowl consistently.
“We have gym activities, ground training, parallely managing with the bowling load. So, whatever body parts that come in the bowling, we have to work on those things in gyms, all other conditioning, plus rehab, specifics for a fast bowler. I started working on those things in the gym and at the time of (strength) and conditioning.”
Gurjapneet, who has also taken nine wickets in just five T20s, got his big break when he was sold to Chennai Super Kings at the 2025 IPL Auction. Even though the paceman couldn’t play in that IPL due to an injury, he opened up on his experiences of bowling to MS Dhoni, especially when he was serving as a net bowler for CSK.
“Bowling to Dhoni is a very good challenge, because he is the best finisher of his time,” said Gurjapneet. “I have learnt so many points from him, how to read the batsman. He gave me tips, where you have to bowl according to the field. The IPL experience is totally different from other levels, other leagues are different.
“He told about how the batsman would charge at you in the middle overs, death overs, or the new ball. So, at that time, what field you have to keep according to the batsman’s strength. Last season, I learnt a lot of things with CSK.
“I had a niggle in my groin, so I was not 100 percent fit. Somewhere it was painful, somewhere it was okay. It was confusing. It was an on-and-off kind of a niggle. It was irritating me. I did a good rehab. Now I feel like I have recovered.”
It is difficult to sit on a sofa and predict someone’s future. But the fundamentals of Gurjapneet’s bowling template are quite strong. Alongside hit-the-deck skills, he has also showcased the ability to move the ball from a fuller length. Gurjapneet also has the willingness to know more about the mental side of the game. For him, an evergreen idiom could be his go-to mantra: The bar is always set higher.
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