There is no dearth of topics when you are talking to Harpreet Brar.
You can discuss cricket; you can talk about his latest song; you can ask him about his acting debut in Punjabi movie Rabb Da Radio 3; you can even talk about the medical camp he helped organise through his foundation.
Or you can delve deeper into his life philosophy, best captured in this timeless couplet by the 19th-century Punjabi Sufi poet Mian Muhammad Bakhsh in his masterpiece Saif-ul-Malook:
“Maali da kamm paani dena, bhar-bhar mashakaan paave,
Maalik da kamm phal-phull laauna, laave jaan naa laave.”
The gardener’s job is to water the plants with full dedication; whether they bear fruit and flowers is up to God. Brar lives by this very principle.
His road to the top has been paved by perseverance. As a youngster, he kept attending IPL trials until Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) picked him at the 2019 auction. But the opportunities were scarce. In his first two seasons, he played only three games. When he sat out the first five matches of IPL 2021, trolls started calling him “water boy”.
Brar kept working on his skills. When he finally got a game, he converted it into a memorable one by dismissing Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell. The fruit had started to appear.
Over the next five years, no PBKS player won more Player-of-the-Match awards than Brar. His economy rate in this period has been 7.89. Yet, he is not a regular in the side. In IPL 2025, he was benched for the first six matches, and this season started in a similar way. He sat out the first seven games before getting a chance against Rajasthan Royals (RR).
PBKS lost that match as RR chased down 223 in 19.2 overs. But Brar was impressive, returning figures of 4-0-25-0. Still, there is no guarantee he will play the next game – it all depends on the team combination. And once Cooper Connolly is cleared to bowl his left-arm spin, Brar’s chances will reduce further. How does he make peace with all this?
“There are 25 people in the squad but only 12 can play,” Brar tells ESPNcricinfo. “But you go to the ground expecting you are playing every match. That keeps you mentally prepared. If you don’t get a chance, you start preparing for the next game. I think that helps me perform whenever I get an opportunity.”
Brar is not a big turner of the ball but he reads the game exceptionally well. He watches the batter’s feet closely and makes subtle adjustments, making it difficult to step out against him. In the IPL, he predominantly bowls in the middle overs (7-16), where he has an economy rate of 7.17. Since the start of 2021, only Sunil Narine (6.40) has a better economy rate in this phase (minimum 500 balls).
It’s not that Brar cannot operate in other phases. In his latest match against RR, he bowled the fifth over and conceded just two runs. That too after the opposition had raced to 66 for 1 with Yashasvi Jaiswal, a left-hand batter, batting on 21 off seven balls. At death, he can nail the yorkers.
“It’s more about what your captain wants and what the situation demands,” he says. “I think I am brave that way – when the captain asks, I always put my hand up. In the nets, I practise with the new ball, the old ball and also with a wet ball. You should be fully prepared so that when you have to do it in the match, it doesn’t feel alien.”
Brar is a rare left-arm fingerspinner who has been equally effective against right-hand batters and left-hand batters. Since 2021, his economy rate against right-hand batters in the IPL is 7.76. Against left-handers, it is 8.05 – the best among left-arm fingerspinners who have bowled at least 50 balls to left-hand batters in this period.
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When asked about his approach against left-hand batters, Brar says, “Every left-arm spinner has the same plan: not to bowl in their arc and try to get them off strike. Yes, it is easier for a left-hand batter to play a left-arm spinner but if I want to play for India, then it shouldn’t matter whether a right-hander is on strike or a left-hander.
“We have a lot of left-hand batters in our team: Priyansh Arya, Nehal Wadhera, Harnoor Pannu, Cooper Connolly. When I bowl to them in the nets, I see what deliveries they attack, what kind of fields I can set, how I can give them a single, how I can bowl a dot ball. If there is a chance of getting hit, there is also a chance of taking a wicket.”
Brar, indeed, has a better strike rate against left-hand batters. Last year, after RR were off to a flying start, Brar dismissed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Jaiswal, and finished with 3 for 22 to be named the Player of the Match. While he focuses on bowling as few boundary balls as possible, he is aware that the only way to stop these fearless batters is to dismiss them. For that, he is open to input from all sides, especially from the team’s video analyst.
“In 2023 [2022], we were playing against Sunrisers Hyderabad,” he says. “Our video analyst told me that [Aiden] Markram waits on the back foot against spinners. So I decided I would not give him an easy ball to play off the back foot. Still, he played a couple of front-foot deliveries off the back foot and hit me through covers. But shortly after that, I had him stumped using the same strategy.”
Outside of cricket, too, Brar makes people dance to his tunes. He has been interested in music since childhood and has released six songs to date, with Pagg crossing two million views on YouTube. When he takes a wicket in the IPL, the stadium DJ often plays this track. During IPL 2024, a clip of Brar singing Pagg along with Gujarat Titans head coach Ashish Nerha’s sons went viral online.
Brar’s cheerful personality also shines on social media, where he regularly posts funny reels. When asked about the criticism it brings after a bad day on the field, he says: “I personally don’t read comments. But I think people don’t realise we also have a social life. We are not on the ground 24×7. We also go out with friends, have fun like everyone else. If we post those things on social media, it doesn’t mean we are not focused.”
The same social media has made him aware of his responsibilities towards society. Through the Harnek Foundation, started in memory of his late grandfather, he organised a free eye check-up camp in his village, Hariewala, last year.
“I keep seeing these things on social media,” he says. “Since my wife is also a doctor, it became easier for me. Around 15-16 people underwent surgeries. But I am just a medium. Earlier, I had no resources. Now that everything is there, why not do something about it?”
Brar’s positive outlook towards life was tested in 2024 when he had an ACL injury. During a practice match before the Ranji Trophy, he twisted his right knee in the field and had to spend the next two months on bed rest. Brar calls that period “the most depressing days of my life”.
“I had never been injured before, so it was very tough for me. At one point, I feared I might not be able to run again. I was supposed to make my Ranji Trophy debut that season after travelling with the squad for four years. After the injury, I felt dejected.”
Brar finally made his Ranji Trophy debut last season. He played four games and picked up 23 wickets, including a match haul of 11 against Saurashtra. That reinforced his philosophy.
“Things happen when they are meant to happen,” he says. “You just need to keep doing your work sincerely. I did not always think this way, but certain incidents, including the ACL tear, changed my perspective. And this applies not just to cricket, but to life itself.”
