Former India spinner Murali Kartik has praised young fast bowler Gurnoor Brar for his impressive performance in the second ODI against New Zealand. Brar claimed four wickets in the five-match series encounter on Saturday, using his pace and short-pitched deliveries to trouble the home batters.
Kartik highlighted the hostility in Brar’s bowling and suggested that his aggressive approach could be one of the reasons why India head coach Gautam Gambhir rates the young pacer highly. Speaking during a discussion on Cricbuzz, the former spinner appreciated Brar’s ability to bowl heavy deliveries and unsettle opposition batters.
“Good to see that hostility from Gurnoor Brar because we want somebody like that. That’s one of the reasons why Gautam likes him. Bowls a heavy ball; he bowls those rib-ticklers to the batters, and it could be even foreigners; you can see the number of people he has hit today. These are positive signals for India, given the fact that you’ve got two experienced campaigners still sitting on the bench, people like Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj,” Murali Kartik said.
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Brar finished with impressive figures of 4/30 from his 10 overs, dismissing Tom Latham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner and Nathan Smith. His disciplined yet aggressive spell played a crucial role in restricting New Zealand to just 134 runs in the 47-over-per-side contest. Kartik was also pleased to see Brar and Auqib Nabi bowling in conditions that offered assistance to fast bowlers. He noted that both pacers had previously encountered less favourable pitches during the early stages of their international careers.
“What they’ve encountered from the time they’ve made their debuts, people like Auqib Nabi and Gurnoor Brar, are really docile, benign conditions. You just feel for them. It’s just merciless, and sometimes you feel, is it a chore? You come and play the game because you want to enjoy it and the challenges that come with it. But this is like one-sided. It’s as if tying your hands, tying your legs, and flogging you with no weapon in your own hand. It feels like that for bowlers. Sometimes you feel so sad sitting in the com box as well. But it’s good that they’ve got certain conditions which have gone their way,” he added.
Jammu and Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi also impressed with figures of 2/31 in seven overs. During the same discussion, former India batter Ambati Rayudu praised his discipline and ability to stick to his strengths.
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“He has been someone who’s been doing really well in the last two or three years. Then, he gets his opportunity in a format that he might not have expected because he has picked up a lot of wickets in red-ball cricket, but to transition into white-ball cricket is never easy, especially at the international level. He has just stuck to his strengths today. He has bowled with a lot of discipline. I think he is ready to play whenever the conditions are helpful, and hopefully has a good series going ahead as well,” Ambati Rayudu said.
India’s bowling attack has been impressive throughout the series. The visitors bowled New Zealand out for 185 in the opening ODI before chasing a revised DLS target of 143 in 22.4 overs to take a 1-0 lead.
