ਬਰਿੰਦਰ ਸਰਾਂਬਰਿੰਦਰ ਸਰਾਂ

Barinder Sran (born 10 December 1992 in Sirsa, Haryana) is a former Indian cricketer who played six one-day internationals and two Twenty20 internationals for India in 2016. A left-arm fast-medium bowler who played domestic cricket for Punjab, he is best remembered for taking four wickets for ten runs on his Twenty20 international debut against Zimbabwe, the best figures by an Indian on debut in the format.

Early life and boxing

Sran was born in Sirsa, a town in Haryana on the Punjab border, the son of farmer Balbir Singh. His full name is Barinder Balbir Singh Sran. As a boy he played tennis-ball cricket in his village, but his first sporting dream was not cricket at all. In 2007 he went to Bhiwani to become a boxer, training at the Bhiwani Boxing Club, the home of Olympic medallist Vijender Singh. He idolised Vijender and the other Haryana boxers and spent two years learning the sport.

Boxing taught him fitness, discipline and how to compete, but it did not become his career. The turn came two years later, from a newspaper advertisement.

How did a boxer become a fast bowler?

In 2009 Sran saw a newspaper advertisement from Indian Premier League team Kings XI Punjab, calling bowlers for selection trials in Mohali. He went along and did not make the cut, but the trials changed his life. He had never bowled seriously before and simply bowled with pace. The scouts saw enough raw speed to point him towards the Gatorade Speedster contest, which he won at the North India leg and then at the Under-19 leg. The prize took him to Dubai to train at the International Cricket Council academy.

Back in India he received cricket training at an academy in Chandigarh and began playing age-group and club cricket seriously. Within two years of first picking up a cricket ball properly, he was playing senior cricket for Punjab. It was one of the fastest rises from beginner to professional in Indian cricket.

Domestic career with Punjab

Sran got his first taste of senior cricket with Punjab in the Twenty20 format in October 2011, against Delhi. The following month he made his first-class debut in the Ranji Trophy, against Orissa, and in February 2012 he made his List A debut, again against Delhi. Injuries then kept him out of action for about three years, a long break for a young fast bowler.

His breakthrough came in October 2015, in a Ranji Trophy match against Railways, when he took six wickets for 61 runs and helped Punjab win by an innings. His Punjab team-mate Yuvraj Singh watched the spell and compared him to Zaheer Khan, writing on social media that the young left-armer reminded him of a young Zaheer. Two months later, in a Ranji match against Tamil Nadu in Dindigul, one of Sran's powerful straight drives struck Australian umpire John Ward on the head. The umpire was taken to hospital and later recovered.

Across his first-class career Sran played 18 matches, taking 47 wickets at an average of 37.87 with best figures of six for 61, and scored 227 runs. In List A cricket he played 31 matches and took 45 wickets at 32.64, with best figures of four for 22. He played domestic cricket for Punjab from 2011 to 2021, and also turned out for Chandigarh in 2019.

International debut in Australia

On 20 December 2015, having played only eight List A matches, Sran was picked in India's one-day squad for the tour of Australia. He made his debut in the first one-day international at Perth on 12 January 2016, under captain MS Dhoni, and took three wickets for 56 runs, dismissing Aaron Finch, David Warner and Steve Smith, three of Australia's best batsmen.

It was a dream start, and it showed why the selectors had backed a bowler with so little senior experience: left-arm pace was rare in the Indian attack, and Sran offered swing and bounce at a good height. He played six one-day internationals in all, taking seven wickets at an average of 38.42, with best figures of three for 56. His last one-day international came against Zimbabwe on 15 June 2016.

What made his T20I debut so special?

Five days after his last one-day international, Sran made his Twenty20 international debut against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club on 20 June 2016. He took four wickets for ten runs, the best bowling figures by an Indian on Twenty20 international debut. He was named player of the match.

The figures still stand as a record for an Indian debutant in the format. Sran played one more Twenty20 international, two days later, finishing with six wickets at an average of 6.83 from his two matches. His international career lasted less than six months and only eight matches, but the Harare evening gave it a moment that Indian cricket fans still remember.

IPL years and retirement

Sran's Indian Premier League journey began in February 2015, when Rajasthan Royals bought him for ten lakh rupees at the players' auction, at his base price. He made his IPL debut that May against Kolkata Knight Riders and played one match for the Royals that season, learning from team mentor Rahul Dravid and bowlers Tim Southee and James Faulkner.

He went on to play for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016 and 2017, Kings XI Punjab in 2018, and Mumbai Indians in 2019, after being bought by them in the December 2018 auction. He was released by Mumbai Indians before the 2020 auction, and his last IPL appearance came in 2019.

On 29 August 2024, at the age of 31, Sran announced his retirement from international and domestic cricket on social media. "As I officially hang up my cricket boots, I look back at my journey with a heart full of gratitude," he wrote, adding that fast bowling had opened the door to representing India, the highest honour of his career.

ਵਿਰਾਸਤ

Sran never played Test cricket, and his international career was brief, but his story is one of the most unusual in Punjab cricket. He came to the game late, from boxing, with no formal coaching as a child, and reached the Indian team within about six years of first bowling in a trial. For a generation of young cricketers from small towns and farming families, that path matters more than the number of matches he played.

He also filled a gap India has often struggled with: a tall left-arm fast bowler who could swing the new ball. His debut in Perth, when he dismissed three of Australia's best in one spell, and his four for ten in Harare show what he could do at his best. The injuries and the short international run are part of the story too, but so is the fact that a boy from Sirsa who once wanted to be a boxer wore India blue at all.