It will be an emotional reunion for Shubman Gill and Simranjeet Singh on Wednesday in Dubai when India take on United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the second match of ongoing Asia Cup 2025. While Gill has already cemented himself as the next big thing in Indian cricket, Simranjeet is taking baby steps into his international career.
Born in Punjab, Simranjeet has been in Punjab cricket circuit for a long time, much before Gill came into this earth. Among the probables for Punjab’s Ranji Trophy squad in 2017, Simranjeet remained within the boundary of Punjabi district cricket and never made it to the big stage.
During his days at the Punjab Cricket Association academy nets in Mohali, Simranjeet even bowled to Gill in 2011 or 2012, a memory that the 35-year-old fondly remembered. “I have known Shubman since he was a kid, but I don’t know if he remembers me,” Simranjeet told PTI.
“I think Shubman Gill must have been around 11 or 12 years old at that time. He used to come in the nets regularly for practice. I would bowl later in the session, so I ended up bowling to him quite a lot as well.”
How Simranjeet Singh became UAE’s adopted child?
However, Simranjeet’s cricketing career took a different turn when he decided to travel to Dubai for 20 odd days for a practice session, only to be struck there due to the second COVID-19 wave, eventually turning his short trip into a permanent stay.
Not only he coaches junior players, but also played club cricket in UAE with his slow left-arm orthodox spin. And when he completed three years in the middle-east country, Simranjeet approached UAE head coach Lalchand Rajput, requesting him for a trial.
Impressed by his craft and ability to flight deliveries, a prover weapon in cricket, especially in T20s, what followed was nothing short of a dream as Simranjeet was awarded a central contract by the UAE cricket board and his career took off. He finally made his international debut against Saudi Arabia in 2024 in Doha.
Simranjeet Singh’s career numbers for UAE
So far, in 12 T20Is, Simranjeet took 15 wickets at an impressive economy of 5.64. In the recent tri-series, Simranjeet played against Afghanistan, taking one wicket in his four overs, conceding 24 runs. In ODIs, Simranjeet has 10 wickets from five games. He was also the part of the UAE squad that won the historic T20I series against Bangladesh.