India’s ODI skipper Shubman Gill praised rookie fast bowler Gurnoor Brar after the home team claimed the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan by 3-0. The hosts won the third and final game against the visitors comprehensively by nine wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Saturday.
Brar, who made his debut for India in the series, bagged seven wickets at an average of 19.43 and an economy rate of 5.96 in three games. The Punjab pacer impressed with his extra pace and bowled around 145 clicks to breathe down the neck of the opposition batters. Brar, who is 6’’5’, was able to extract extra bounce because of his height.
Shubman Gill said in the post-match press conference, “I think he ticked most of the boxes, but there are some things that you only learn with experience and hopefully, he is going to keep growing as a bowler,” Gill said.
“If I have to be really critical, he did go for a little bit of runs. He was a little bit inconsistent at times, but he is a young, he is playing his first series at the top level and he is bowling quick. He has got all the good signs that we want from a young, tall, fast bowler. With experience, he is only going to get better.”
Meanwhile, Prasidh Krishna also bagged 5-23 in 8.2 overs he bowled in the final game at the Chepauk and Gill admitted that lanky pacers offer them a little bit more.
“Honestly, [with] the combinations and the kind of bowlers that we are trying to play, that’s what we are trying to create as many opportunities as we can. In that middle phase, we have seen once the ball gets old, on a good wicket with only four fielders outside, batting does get very easy. So, that’s the idea behind having [someone like] Gurnoor [Brar], in the squad, someone like a Prasidh [Krishna], even a Harshit [Rana]. Tall fast bowlers, [because] they offer a little bit more to us.
“We’re trying to do that. Someone like [Nitish Kumar] Reddy, it’s important to give him that many overs in the middle, even if we know that we have got maybe better bowlers for those conditions who can give us the wickets. But it’s important for us that players like that have some confidence going into the World Cup,” the India captain noted in Chennai after India swept the series 3-0.
Krishna and Brar are both part of India’s squad for the ODI series against England.
