Former Indian batter Ajay Jadeja praised India’s bowling unit after the visitors secured a four-run win (DLS method) against New Zealand in the second ODI at Hnry Stadium, Wellington on Saturday.
New Zealand was bundled out for 134 runs in a 47-over match after Shubman Gill decided to bowl first after winning the toss. Gurnoor Brar was the pick of the bowlers as he returned with impressive figures of 4-30 in his quota of 10 overs.
The lanky pacer accounted for Glenn Phillips, Nathan Smith, Mitchell Santner and Tom Latham. Furthermore, Auqib Nabi, Axar Patel and Anshul Kamboj bagged two wickets apiece. Arshdeep Singh, who went wicketless, bowled an economical spell as he conceded only 16 runs in seven overs.
“The bowling was extremely disciplined. It’s not like there was a huge difference in help between the previous game and this one, but the bowling was exceptional today. There was rarely a bad ball, and the batters aren’t used to it these days. The batters were used to playing out that period in the 80s,” Ajay Jadeja said on Sony Sports.
“After the first spell, Gurnoor Brar came and troubled the batters with bounce. When Axar Patel came to bowl, the wickets had definitely fallen, but it was a different challenge, and no one could live up to that challenge. This isn’t an experienced bowling attack, but they bowled like an experienced bowling attack,” he added.
Jadeja highlighted that it was the most disciplined bowling performance by any team in the recent past.
“I would go to the extent of saying that it’s been a very long time since I have seen such disciplined bowling from any team because they try something or other, assuming that the batter would hit. Daryl Mitchell tried for some time. He hit Anshul Kamboj for two fours in an over to upset them, but they maintained their patience. It was an extremely impressive performance,” he observed.
The third ODI between India and New Zealand will be played at Seddon Park, Hamilton, on Tuesday.
