Wellington, Nov 7 (IANS) India fast bowler Gurnoor Brar has admitted that the hammerings he received in the ODIs at Lord’s and Guwahati, where he conceded 97 and 85 runs respectively, had left him disheartened, but added that reflecting on those setbacks helped him come back stronger.
Brar’s comments come after he picked career-best figures of 4-30 in the rain-hit second ODI against New Zealand at Hnry Stadium on Saturday and was adjudged Player of the Match as India won by four runs (via DLS method) to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
“As far as Lord’s and Guwahati games are concerned, obviously that means it’s wrong for any bowler to concede that many runs. But if you learn from there and come back, so in my mind, obviously it was a little demotivating. But more than that, thinking about how I can do better helped me a lot,” he said in the post-match press conference.
The turnaround has been striking. After picking up 3-44 in the series opener in Auckland, Brar was the pick of the Indian bowlers on a fast bowling-friendly pitch. All four of his wickets on Saturday came off back-of-length deliveries or bouncers.
Brar’s spell helped India dismiss New Zealand for a paltry 134 in 41 overs after the hosts were put into batting first. Brar added that a part of his learning came from watching senior pacer Umesh Yadav, his Punjab teammate, operate during the Ranji Trophy in New Chandigarh.
“Umesh paaji has bowled so much in the red ball for India and has been brilliant. In the first match too, he took out a five-wicket haul for Punjab. I was watching that, and I was also talking to him – about how he was hitting lengths.
“He just told me that the more you put the ball in an area, and after that, if you do a little experiment with length or something, it will look more effective unless the wicket is not doing anything. So it is important for us to stick more there – that was my plan and the same thing happened there,” he said.
Brar also revealed that the fast-bowling group had kept their approach uncomplicated in Wellington. “As far as this wicket is concerned, my simple plan was to hit the lengths and all of us fast bowlers had the same simple funda – that whoever has the skill, he should back it and that is what is giving us the results.”
Brar stated that he was careful not to fall back on his bouncer too often. “Every day I learn about what I could have done better. So that’s what I learn from every match, and I try to adapt the good things and put them in my memory. You said that the wicket for bowling a short ball was good.
“But before that, whatever spells I had bowled, I was trying to go full while bowling to the batters. With that patience, I know my bouncer is effective. But it will be a little wrong to overuse it. So hitting at the right moment when it matters is key — so that happened here,” he added.
The team management’s message, he said, was straightforward. “The feedback was the same — hit my natural length and line. I have to hit that only. More full deliveries or more short balls – I don’t have to pre-plan about anything, and I have to pay a lot of attention to the fields.
“When I came to practice and was bowling first, I already knew that these wickets are good. I became mentally ready that pitches on the tour will be great to bowl on. But what good I can bring to it; I worked on that thing,” he added.
Brar added that he relished bowling on surfaces that offered help to the bowlers after bowling on flat tracks in the series against the West Indies dominated by the batters. “It is a very good feeling that we also get such tracks to bowl on. You do know that the whole West Indies series was fully dominated by the batters.
“But if there are such wickets on offer, then according to me, you have to pay more attention to your bowling because if you give more runs on this wicket, then it is more difficult for the batters to chase, which you saw today.
“So according to me, if there are such wickets, then pay more attention to bowling and focus more on the wicket. Obviously the results are good when you bowl the right lengths,” Brar said.
On the shift from Auckland to Wellington, Brar quipped the main change was in the adaptation to ground dimensions. “It was more of a ground adjustment. The wicket was similar. The sides were a little short. So the front boundary was a little long. I adjusted the length there, but according to me, if I keep hitting the right lengths, then it is difficult for the batters to hit it and I back that only.”
Brar signed off by revealing that he had deliberately tried to get under Daryl Mitchell’s skin before the New Zealand batter’s dismissal to Axar Patel happened. “In my mind, I backed myself for that – like if I try to disturb him a little or speak a little. He was playing a little right according to the wicket.
“So, I thought if I could say something to him and make him do something different. So that happened – in that over, I spoke to him a little after he left the ball, and then I also made some gestures ahead, and he got out in the next over. So according to me, things work in partnership. If we put pressure as a bowling unit, then we will stop them at a low target, +- and hopefully it will be easy for the batters to chase,” he added.
–IANS
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