Former Indian assistant coach Abhishek Nayar was impressed with the way Gurnoor Brar bowled in the first ODI against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham on Tuesday. Brar, who impressed in his debut series against Afghanistan, played for the first time in overseas conditions.
But the lanky pacer was hit for 17 runs in his first over by England opener Ben Duckett. However, the Punjab pacer bounced back in style, accounting for both England openers Jacob Bethell and Ben Duckett in the same over on short-pitched deliveries.
Brar eventually returned with figures of 2-61 in nine overs he bowled and he must have gained a lot of confidence by delivering in English conditions. Earlier, the fast bowler had bagged seven wickets in three ODIs against Afghanistan.
Nayar noted that Brar’s wickets didn’t came off great deliveries but he was impressed by bowler’s aggression and attitude.
“Actually, I was very impressed with Gurnoor Brar. Both wickets, I won’t say they were exceptional balls, but the attitude that he showed reflected the hunger he has. He went for a lot of runs in his first over. After that, you could see the aggressive intent in him. He took the ball and threw it,” Abhishek Nayar said on JioHotstar.
Nayar highlighted that Brar poked Ben Duckett to go for a big shot against his bowling.
“He was at Ben Duckett. Also part of the reason why he played that shot, because you could see a battle emerge between the both of them. Gurnoor Brar changed the momentum of the game. If Ben Duckett had played for four or five more overs, things would have been very, very different,” Nayar observed.
On the other hand, Prasidh Krishna returned with impressive figures of 2-50 in his quota of 10 overs, accounting for Jos Buttler and Sam Curran. Nayar said Krishna has been priceless in ODIs.
“Prasidh Krishna has been priceless in this format. He picked up five wickets against Afghanistan. Looked unbelievable with the lengths he hit (even in Tuesday’s game). You saw 37 percent of that six to eight meters, which we always talk about,” he said.
The second ODI between India and England will be played at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, on Thursday.
