• Source:JND
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Asia Cup 2025: The Asia Cup 2025 match between India and the UAE on Wednesday marks a personal significance for Simranjeet Singh, the 35-year-old left-arm spinner representing the UAE.

Born in Ludhiana, Singh will be facing his country of birth and the 35-year-old slow left-arm orthodox spinner will be up against Shubman Gill, a player he bowled to as a young player at the Punjab Cricket Association nets in Mohali over a decade ago.

“I have known Shubman since he was a kid, but I don’t know if he remembers me,” Simranjeet said in an interview with PTI.

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“It was around 2011-12. He must have been 11 or 12 at the time. We trained at the PCA Academy from 6am to 11am and Shubman would arrive with his father right after. I often stayed back for extra bowling, and that’s when I bowled a lot to him.”

The 35-year-old slow left-arm orthodox bowler is a crafty customer, according to UAE head coach Lalchand Rajput.

"Not every left-arm spinner in T20Is has the heart to give the ball air and flight it consistently. Simran knows how to buy wickets with flight," Rajput said about the Punjab man, who has 15 wickets from 12 T20Is with an economy rate of less than six.

Against Afghanistan, as recently as September 5, he had decent figures of 1/24 with 11 dot balls.

"I played a lot of district cricket in Punjab. I had finally made it to the Ranji probables in 2017. I had also bowled a lot at the erstwhile Kings XI Punjab nets whenever they had sessions in Mohali back in the day," he recalled.

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To be able to qualify to play for the UAE, Simranjeet needed to play three seasons of domestic cricket, and once he fulfilled the criteria, he contacted head coach Lalchand Rajput, requesting him for a trial.

"From 2021, once I settled down in Dubai, I started earning decent money through coaching junior players. I was playing club cricket and coaching juniors. That way, I was able to run my household," he added.

"Once I got into the UAE team, I got a central contract with Emirates Cricket Board and things are looking good," he said.

(With PTI Inputs)