After recently playing for the India-A squad, Gurjapneet Singh only joined the Tamil Nadu Ranji Trophy team on the eve of the match against Uttarakhand and didn’t train on Saturday.

However, the left-arm pacer seamlessly shifted to red-ball and hit his mark from the first over, taking three wickets in his first spell to help TN seize the initiative on day one.

“I was just trying to keep it normal, using the angles according to the wicket and batsmen, understanding the batsmen, how they are reacting,” said Gurjapneet after the day’s play.

The 27-year-old relished bowling in favourable conditions and got the ball to move both ways, while constantly shifting from over to around the wicket.

“It is just my instincts. I watch the batter’s foot movement and how he reacts. I then try to think whether to change it a bit, and it gave positive results,” he explained.

The pacer was recently with the national team as a net bowler and felt that bowling to top batters helped. “The thing is, you will get confidence when you bowl to good batsmen like Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli. When you then come to the Ranji Trophy, you will get a different kind of confidence in your body,” he added.

When asked about doing well in the India-A and Emerging Tours opportunities in the limited-overs setup, Gurjapneet was crystal clear that unless he dons the India cap, he won’t be satisfied.

“There is no satisfaction unless I play for India. That’s the main job, and that box is still empty. I have to tick that,” said Gurjapneet.