Harpreet Brar has now seen seven seasons at Punjab Kings. This includes one rebrand, seven leaders, numerous cuts and changes, and the eternal quest for their first title. Of those seven, Brar only played two full seasons. However, no PBKS player has taken more wickets since his debut. For a team that seems to be in constant flux, Brar’s left-arm action has been rare and constant since 2019.
For the average fan, there is definitely one memory of Brar that sticks out in his mind: The hat-trick against RCB Two years into his IPL career. However, he removed successive balls from Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell before taking on AB de Villiers. Ask him how often this happens, and he quips, “Yes, they asked me in another interview ten minutes ago.” Brar beat Maxwell three more times, and Kohli again in the Indian Premier League.
The “Victims” column is diverse and rich in names: from Rohit Sharma to Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who tend to feature in the Indian Premier League. According to him, no one matches Kohli in that list. “After Virat Baggy“There is no batsman whose wicket can be remembered,” he told Cricbuzz. But I still haven’t dismissed Shubman Gill in the IPL. Abhishek (Sharma), Vaibhav Suryavanshi, (Yashasvi) Jaiswal…most of them are others.
“I would definitely like to have Jill’s share in my career,” he adds. He added: “But for the past three or four years, when there is a match against him, I don’t play.”
The last part becomes a recurring topic of conversation. In the past two seasons, Brar has spent much more time on the bench than on the field. In IPL 2026, he made one appearance each in April and May. The first was a spell of 0-25 from four overs in a 222 for 228 match against Rajasthan Royals. In the other, he took 2-35 against RCB, dismissing Jacob Bethel and Devdutt Padikkal – two from four wickets to fall in a total of 222.
“After Virat Baji, there is no batsman whose wicket can be remembered.” ©Agence France-Presse
Logically, these two performances in a busy season should warrant more playing time, especially for someone with a proven track record in the IPL. However, Brar’s entire role has changed significantly with the influence player rule. In a traditional setup, he would have secured the role of spinner, while providing a batting cushion down the order – Brar featured at No. 7 for the Kings in the pre-Impact Player era. Now, his batting role is close to zero, and instead of being an automatic starter, he is being rotated based on matchups. On flat surfaces, extra batting depth or a fast bowler is preferred.
The frustration is clear in his words.
“sir,I just couldn’t do it(I can only work on things),” he interjects, when asked what specifically he’s been working on in his batting. “Because you know what, the way cricket is going now, there’s the impact player (rule), because of which I’ve dropped down one more spot (in the batting order). If you play, there are only Arshdeep (Singh) and YosiBaggy(Chahal) is after me, because Marco Janssen is also batting. Even if Azmatullah (Omarzai) plays, he will outplay me.
“But in the future, when the impact player rule stops, and I hope that happens… because if our hits come first, I won’t be in the team,” he explains. “If the bowler comes, I’ll be in the team. If the total is over, the bowler bowls. That’s the way it is.”
This desire to end the Impact Player Rule has shown signs of being realized. Prior to the 2026 season, this item was brought up at the captains meeting. Many prominent players have spoken out against it, and Privileges will be asked For their comments on Al Qaeda. Indications so far are that Impact Players will remain part of the league for at least another season.
“Personally, Impact Player is not good for me because I want to play all the games,” Brar reiterates. “Every player wants to play more. So, yes, I’ve been working on improving my hitting – I’ve been doing it for eight years. But I’m not getting enough chances.”
It didn’t help that the Kings’ attack didn’t get past Chahal. This season, they have bowled the fewest spins across all teams (18.7), and taken the fewest wickets with it (14). Historically, this is a single-season low for the Kings. In the two seasons they reached the final (2014 and 2025), they took the highest share of wickets by spin (33 and 32).
Combining high arm movement with good jumping, Berar relies on accuracy, precise speed changes and width of the crease to consistently challenge hitters. His consistency is unwavering, but no two balls are alike.
His reputation extends beyond the Indian Premier League too: among spinners, he is the highest-paid player in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy since 2023, and he also shed his white-ball-only image by making his Ranji Trophy debut last year. But his lack of Indian Premier League time has taken its toll: he has not played any professional cricket since May.
Last month, he appeared at PBKS’ offseason camp alongside five other players, getting undivided time with S&C and assistant coaches. “I worked on a lot of things in detail,” he says. “How can I be better… How can I play better?
“How can I play more?” He adds with a slight laugh.
Berar describes the situation as a “very difficult situation” in dealing with the constant switching from the starting lineup.
“When you perform well for your team, all of a sudden, you’re not in the starting lineup for the next game.Feeling sad“(It hurts) but as a cricketer, the team always comes first, and that is our motto. “We have to go according to the team’s requirements. But that doesn’t mean that if I don’t play, I’ll sit and get frustrated.
Despite the uncertainty, Brar has found the combination of captain-coach Ricky Ponting and Shreyas Iyer to be very straightforward and workable.
“They are very similar types of people,” says Brar. “They are very practical people.” “If I have a question in mind, I’ll go and ask it to them. They’ll always answer it the right way.”
“It’s important to be practical in life, because you can improve on things you’re weak at. They also obviously have a very positive attitude.”
Brar is keen to explore the path of batting and winning matches as an all-rounder ©Agence France-Presse
Brar tries to reach out to Iyer and Ponting when they are alone, asking about their own playing experiences, being comfortable enough to ask questions about not being selected, and ways to come back.
In his ongoing quest for more playing time, he has set his sights on other places too, including the UK. His wife is a practicing doctor there, who naturally handles post-IPL duties. But the search is always on for opportunities to play cricket as well.
That year he played club matches in the UK after the Indian Premier League. The logic was simple: if there was an opportunity to play cricket, he would take it. “Even when you go for some free time after the Indian Premier League, say for a vacation.
“Even if the matches are on the weekend, I want to play and stay connected to the game whenever I have free time,” he says.
Last year, a similar search brought him close to India’s Test squad. During the England tour, Brar happened to be there when the national team was training in Birmingham. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, he sent a text message to Captain Gill asking if he could train too.
“He said, ‘Yes, you can come,’” Brar says. “So, I was able to train with the team. I think Shopman himself didn’t come that day. It was an optional training. But I trained with the rest and I really liked it. Also, it’s always nice to meet people on foreign soil!”
For now, Brar is back home, playing in the state T20 league in Punjab, and reusing the white-ball tricks he mastered, after a brief experience with the red ball. But the biggest challenge comes later in the year – his second Ranji season, a chance to silently prove and come out the other side, diversifying his opportunities as a player. In the era of the Impact Player, there can be little progress in being an opportunity-hungry specialist T20 player.
He hit all the right notes in his debut Ranji season (2025/26), taking 23 wickets at 21.26, the most among Punjab bowlers. A few more notable victims have been added to his tally: KL Rahul, for example, will never forget the crusher that roared in front of him and flattened his mid-stump.
“Personally, I feel I can play Test cricket in India,” says Brar. “For this reason, I am willing to put in all the hard work required and will go beyond this in the future.”
Even if the Indian Premier League (IPL) doesn’t allow it, Brar is keen to explore the path of batting and winning matches as an all-rounder. As for inspiration, he looks no further than his childhood cricket idol, who now frequents the comments section of his Instagram posts.
“Ever since I was introduced to cricket in 2002-03, I have loved Yuvraj Singh a lot. I used to imitate his batting style when I was a kid. I started cricket on these lines: I need to bat like him, I need to bowl and field like him.”
Perhaps, just as Yuvraj developed his secondary skill in the 2000s, transforming from a batsman to an all-rounder, Brar can adapt and expand his playing opportunities as well. For someone who came into the IPL without any T20 experience, and was thrust into playing with a new ball, Brar is not averse to walking untested into new fields. This also applies outside of cricket: a few years ago, he started releasing full-length music videos on his channel.
But even with the focus now firmly on cricket – “nothing else”, he promised – the next phase of Brar’s development will be interesting. Dropped by the polarization rule, an addition to the Indian Premier League that remains a subject of controversy, Brar is eagerly biding his time. It’s a seven-year itch in a very real form.
This is part of Cricbuzz’s series – IPL Off-Season – where we will be bringing you stories from the T20 tournament throughout the year. For more stories from the series Click here.
