When Sukhbir Singh Brar learned that his young son Gurnoor had a strong interest in cricket, he was delighted to support his aspirations for two reasons.
First of all, he genuinely desired to be a loving father. Second, as an ASI in Punjab Police, he saw it as the ideal means of making sure the 17-year-old avoids “bad company”.
“As he was reaching late teens, I wanted my son to get into the sport apart from pursuing his studies so that he doesn’t have time to indulge in anything else,” Sukhbir recalled in an interview to PTI reflecting on his pacer son’s rise.
“Also systematic coaching means you don’t keep any bad company. And moment Gurnoor joined Champs Academy under coach Ravi ‘sir’, he didn’t look back,” he added.
In the eleventh grade, Gurnoor, a lanky youngster, started playing cricket. Despite not yet making his national debut, he is a member of India’s Test and ODI teams at the age of 26. However, Brar senior, who is only an inch shorter than Gurnoor at a commanding 6 feet 4 inches, is fairly optimistic about his son’s promising future.
“I am a Policeman but I get more emotional than Gurnoor’s mother (Manvinder). When we got the news of his India selection, I literally had tears in my eyes,” Brar senior, who represented Punjab in the 1995 National Basketball Championship.
The news was delivered to the Brar family in a very straightforward manner by their son.
“The day the squad for Afghanistan Test was announced, we were at my ancestral home in Muktsar Sahib due to a death in the family. Now Gurnoor, if he had evening practice during IPL, would go off to sleep in afternoon and always tell his mom to wake him up around 4:45 pm.”
“So my wife called to wake him up and asked, ‘Wasn’t there team announcement today?’ ‘Oh yes Mama, I have been selected’ is all he said before keeping the phone down,” Sukhbir laughed.
“My son has always been like that. He doesn’t go overboard with anything. Very reserved, apne kaam se kaam rakhnewala ladka hai woh (believes in minding his own business).”
He recalled that, in contrast to other children who are taken to academies by the time they are nine or ten years old, Gurnoor started playing cricket much later.
“Being a policeman, I hardly had time during their (his two sons) growing up years. After Gurnoor completed his 10th standard board exams, I made him try basketball since that was the sport I played and height is something we are blessed to have.”
“Gurnoor tried it for two-three weeks but he told me ‘Papa I am not enjoying’,” he recalled.
University cricket isn’t as popular in India as it was in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, but Gurnoor’s big break came when he played for DAV College Chandigarh in an intercollegiate tournament and won Player of the Match in both the semifinal and final.
“My son, despite his cricket commitments, got 80 per cent in Arts in 12th standard and got into DAV College on sports quota. He had a role in DAV College’s triumph and was supposed to play the International College tournament to be held in Dubai.”
“At that time, Mohali District Association named him for Katoch Shield (Punjab’s biggest inter-district meet). He decided that to play for Punjab, he needs to play Katoch rather than go to Dubai. I felt he made a good decision,” Sukhbir said.
Gurnoor’s ascent has been extraordinary, and the national selection committee was drawn to him because of his height and ability to strike the deck forcefully while extracting uncomfortable bounce from length.
When the management of the Indian squad needed a simulation for the 6-foot-5-inch-tall Bangladeshi pacer Nahid Rana, they first called him for nets.
“He was specifically called so that he could give the batters practice before they played Bangladesh’s Nahid Rana. After that his performance at home against Australia A and South Africa A was impressive and now he has got an India call-up,” he said.
Although Gurnoor didn’t play in many IPL matches, Brar senior couldn’t resist thanking Ashish Nehra, the head coach of the Gujarat Titans, for his help throughout the competition.
“The amount of support and help Nehra ‘sir’ has given, we are indebted. Even during IPL, Nehra ‘sir’ helped Gurnoor with his red ball bowling. I always tell him, this is your time to learn.”
“You have Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, all senior international bowlers. You go and ask them questions and clear your doubts. Seniors won’t come to juniors. Juniors will have to approach seniors.”
But Gurnoor hasn’t been overtaken by the IPL glamour and riches, and the father is pleased of that.
“When he first got Rs 20 lakh from Punjab Kings, he asked me ‘Papa can I buy a car?’ I told him, ‘it’s your income, you are free to buy a car’. That’s how he bought his first car.”
