He explained that he was in Swindon, which is his wife's hometown and close to Birmingham.
India’s practice session before the second Test against England at Edgbaston had a surprise visitor — left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar from Punjab Kings (PBKS). Brar, who did well during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 as PBKS reached the final, was seen bowling to India batters in Birmingham. Even though he is not part of the official Test squad, he was invited to bowl in the nets after a personal request from the new captain, Shubman Gill.
MAL
55/0
HKG
52/4
WI
–
AUS
–
RWA
157/5
ML
158/1
Malawi beat Rwanda by 9 wickets
TBC
–
TBC
–
ROM
178/6
LUX
133/10
Romania won by 45 runs
HUN
168/9
AUST
169/6
Austria beat Hungary by 4 wickets
AUST
245/7
LUX
179/5
Austria beat Luxembourg by 66 runs
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
ALZ
88/10
JIHCC
163/4
Jinnah CC Stockholm beat Alby Zalmi by 75 runs
RPH
123/6
MAR
150/4
Marsta CC beat Rising Phoenix by 27 runs
JIHCC
153/9
ALZ
168/4
Alby Zalmi CC beat Jinnah CC by 15 runs
RPH
166/4
JIHCC
78/10
Rising Phoenix beat Jinnah CC by 88 runs
ALZ
68/2
RPH
99/7
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
BOT-W
143/6
MWW-W
78/10
Botswana Women beat Malawi Women by 65 runs
EWW-W
40/10
LSN-W
88/9
Lesotho Women beat Eswatini Women by 48 runs
RWA-W
135/7
SLO-W
84/10
Rwanda Women beat Sierra Leone Women by 51 runs
CW-W
88/8
MZW-W
87/8
Cameroon Women beat Mozambique Women by 2 wickets
GUJCC
–
SUL
–
CHK
–
TCC
–
FRC
122/4
KLG
108/6
Fatemi Resources Cricket Club beat KL Gladiators by 14 runs
JBK
80/4
SWCL
106/5
Sky Warriors Cricket Club beat JB Kings by 26 runs
UTC
78/4
MXC
80/2
Maxx Cricket Club beat Utkal Cricket Club by 8 wickets
MKP
75/4
MBMS
73/10
MR KB Putrajaya beat MB Malik Sports UMZ by 6 wickets
FRC
–
MXC
–
JBK
–
MBMS
–
UTC
–
KLG
–
MKP
–
SWCL
–
UAE
141/5
NIG
88/10
United Arab Emirates beat Nigeria by 53 runs
KNY
126/6
NBA
123/2
Kenya beat Namibia A by 3 runs
KNY
–
NIG
–
UAE
–
UGA
–
VMK
–
MMS
–
MAK
154/9
BDS
155/4
Boost Defenders beat Mis Ainak Knights by 6 wickets
ASS
174/4
SGT
173/6
Amo Sharks beat Speen Ghar Tigers by 6 wickets
WIU19-W
11/1
USAU19-W
66/9
WIU19-W
–
USAU19-W
–
TBLZ-W
–
BRB-W
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
Match Cancelled
SUR-W
–
TBC
–
IAC
203/4
AAC
207/6
Australia Champions beat India Champions by 4 wickets
PNC
95/1
WIC
–
SAC
–
AAC
–
IAC
–
EDC
–
NZ
180/5
SA
177/6
New Zealand beat South Africa by 3 runs
IRE-W
288/9
ZIM-W
182/8
On June 28, Brar was spotted at training. Since he was not wearing official team gear, it was clear he was not part of the squad. This led to some talk that India might be thinking about changes in the spin department, especially after their tough loss in the first match at Headingley.
Later, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared a video of Brar from the session. He explained that he was in Swindon, which is his wife’s hometown and close to Birmingham. He said that Gill had sent him a message the day before, so he decided to travel and join the team for practice.
“My wife is from Swindon. It’s very close to Birmingham, it’s a 1-1.5 hour drive. I was talking to Shubman [Gill], he texted me yesterday. So I thought let’s go and practice there [Birmingham],” Brar said in the BCCI video.
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India’s bowling performance has been questioned after the loss in Leeds. Jasprit Bumrah took five wickets in the first innings. But he could not make much of an impact in the second innings. England chased a big target of 371 runs without much trouble. The rest of the fast bowlers were not consistent. Ravindra Jadeja, the only spinner, took just one wicket in both innings.
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There are talks that India might make changes for the second Test. Kuldeep Yadav could be brought in for more spin support, or Arshdeep Singh might be picked as a fast bowler. Another concern is whether Bumrah will play. Due to injury and workload management, he is expected to rest for one or two matches in the five-match series, and he might miss the Edgbaston Test.
The second Test will begin on July 2.
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Malaysia won by 10 wickets