In a series where Gurnoor Brar impressed with his pace and bounce, India captain Shubman Gill has said the the pacer has ticked the boxes they expected him to. Having earned a maiden call-up to the national squad, Brar had two three-wicket hauls in the first two matches before adding one more wicket to the tally for the series in the third and final ODI against Afghanistan on Saturday.
Despite bowling in hot conditions, Brar didn’t compromise on his pace and was used in short bursts by Gill. With India investing in a pool of fast bowlers with an eye on next year’s World Cup in South Africa, Brar’s bounce and pace was impressive as he hurried the batsmen.
Asked whether Brar ticked the boxes that the team management expected him to, Gill said, “Yes, he did tick most of the boxes but there are some things that he can only learn on experience and hopefully he is going to keep growing as a bowler,” said Gill, who captained India to his first ODI series win.
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“For me, if I am to be really critical, he did go for a little bit of runs. He was a little bit inconsistent at times but he is 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. And with experience, he is only going to get better,” the Indian captain said.
Although it was Prasidh Krishna who broke Afghanistan early with his four wickets inside the first 10 overs, Brar too caused plenty of trouble. Similarly, coming in as first change Price Yadav too had an impressive outing. And Gill said the emergence of young quick augurs well for India.
“Very encouraging, you know, I think great signs for Indian cricket, you know, that we can keep grooming fast-forwarders who can bowl at that pace consistently and I think we have, right now we have a good bunch of fast-forwarders who can bowl 140 plus, are tall, can hit those areas and can still create opportunities with the old ball when there is nothing much offered from the wicket or from the conditions,” he said.
