Who is Simranjeet Singh? 5 interesting facts about UAE bowler who picked up 3 wickets in PAK vs UAE Asia Cup 2025 match

UAE left-arm spinner Simranjeet Singh had the country dreaming about an incredible win over the much-fancied Pakistan in the crucial Asia Cup 2025 encounter in Dubai on September 17. In a do-or-die contest with Super Four qualification on the line, the 35-year-old wrecked the Pakistan middle order after the UAE won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Simranjeet began his stranglehold on the Pakistan batters by dismissing the dangerous Fakhar Zaman for 50. He continued his demolition act by removing Hasan Nawaz and Khushdil Shah in quick succession, leaving Pakistan reeling at 93/6 in the 16th over.

The entire UAE believed that the impossible could become reality in no time, thanks to Simranjeet's heroics. Unfortunately, despite restricting Pakistan to a sub-par 146/9 in 20 overs, the UAE batters could not capitalize on the bowlers' efforts, folding for 105 and losing by 41 runs.

Nevertheless, Simranjeet can leave with his head held high, having made a mark in the tournament against a Pakistan side, renowned for tackling spin with relative ease.

As we await watching Simranjeet Singh in action in the future, let us look at five interesting facts about the left-arm spinner.

#1 The unique journey to the UAE national team

Simranjeet Singh's path to the UAE national side is among the most unique in cricket history. The left-arm spinner incidentally traveled to Dubai for around a month for practice when the second COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2021.

It extended his stay in the UAE longer than planned to the point where he eventually made it his permanent destination. From coaching youngsters to playing club cricket in the UAE, Simranjeet had done it all before the breakthrough happened three years later.

He approached the UAE head coach, Lalchand Rajput, for a trial, and the rest became history as he earned selection to the national side in 2024.

#2 The Indian connection

Simranjeet Singh's Indian connection stems from the fact that he was born in Ludhiana, Punjab, in November 1989. Furthermore, the 35-year-old was also part of the Punjab cricketing setup for several years.

He was part of the probables for the Punjab 2017 Ranji Trophy squad, but the breakthrough unfortunately did not materialize. It was a squad comprising current Indian stars, Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma, alongside veterans like Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh.

#3 The Shubman Gill story

Simranjeet Singh recently shared his days bowling to current Indian Test captain Shubman Gill when the latter was about to enter his teenage years. The now-35-year-old went down the memory lane of his days bowling to Gill, when he was 11 or 12, at the Punjab Cricket Association academy.

"I have known Shubman since he was a kid, but I don't know if he remembers me. It was around 2011-12, and Shubman must have been 11 or 12 at the max. We used to train at the PCA Academy in Mohali from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.. Shubman would come accompanied by his father at around 11 am. I was someone who would also do a lot of extra bowling after our session. Don't know if he would recognise me, but during those days, I had bowled a lot to Shubman," said Simranjeet before the India-UAE clash. (via The Hindu).

As destiny would have it, Simranjeet bowled to Gill in the recent India-UAE Asia Cup 2025 clash. The Indian white-ball vice-captain scored five runs off two deliveries against him, including the game-sealing boundary.

#4 The Punjab Kings story

Simranjeet Singh, through his own words, also recalled bowling in the Punjab Kings nets at Mohali in 2017. The left-arm spinner was ever so close to breaking into the Punjab Ranji Trophy squad at the same time.

"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 said (via the aforementioned source).

Despite coming close to playing first-class cricket in India, the recorded data states Simranjeet only played the white-ball formats for the UAE at a competitive level.

#5 Simranjeet missed an all-time UAE record by a whisker

Despite debuting for the UAE only last year, Simranjeet Singh came close to breaking a UAE record in only his ninth T20I game at the end of last year. The left-arm spinner achieved his career-best bowling figures of 4/15 in four overs against Qatar.

Ahmed Raza boasts the best bowling figures by a UAE bowler in T20Is with 5/19 in four overs. Simranjeet Singh had figures of 4/13 in 3.4 overs in the Qatar contest but missed completing his five-wicket haul and breaking the all-time UAE record by going wicketless off his final two deliveries.