CHENNAI: At first glance, Gurnoor Brar's numbers might not look impressive. One cannot be faulted for skimming through his profile and moving on to someone else. An ODI average of 31.19 with an economy of 6.52 in 11 matches — it has come down a bit thanks to the four-fer he took on Saturday helping India beat New Zealand and go 2-0 up — is not noteworthy.
However, with Brar, it has never been about the numbers. The lanky quick from Punjab did not get fast-tracked to India set up because of the weightage of domestic performances, but for what he could do for India if he continues to learn and grow.
Which is why, when he got a call-up for both Tests and ODIs earlier in June, it raised eyebrows. But whether it was captain Shubman Gill, also his Punjab and Gujarat Titans skipper, coach Gautam Gambhir or the selectors, they already had a fair idea on what he brings to the table.
In fact, Gill, on many occasions, has spoken about the need for a tall pacer who can exploit the conditions at the World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia next year. Throw in the injury concerns over Prasidh Krishna and Jasprit Bumrah, it was time for 'Project Brar' to get underway.
That said, the 26-year-old did not have a fairytale start to his career. He is not the typical new ball pacer who can move the ball both ways — though he could do that, it is not the attribute that makes him stand out. In a pool of seamers and swing bowlers, Brar is someone who can run in, hit the deck consistently and make the ball climb on batters. He has done that many times in red ball cricket for both India A and Punjab.
But international cricket, especially white-ball, is a different ball-game. The pitches are not just docile, but extremely batter-friendly. And Brar needed some time to learn on the job and adapt.
It is why, despite him going for more than run-a-ball in eight of the 11 matches, the team management stuck with him. He went for 0/97 against England at Lord's and then gave away 0/96 against West Indies in Guwahati. But the team management did not doubt him. The fact that he is the only pacer to feature in all 11 ODIs India have played since his debut says it all.
While the backing remained the 'X-factor' in his own words, Brar knew he had to do his work too. It helped that he had two modern-day greats — Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli — and a contemporary superstar Gill to go to. "You have to work a lot during practice. So when I bowled to Virat bhai and Rohit bhai a few days ago, we had a open-net-type match simulation. I was picking their brains on the experience they have in New Zealand, the lengths and lines I should bowl, etc and tried to do that at practice sessions which helped me a lot. Same thing with Shubman. I keep asking him which areas would make it difficult for batters and I tried to do that," Brar explained after his best figures of 4/30 helped India bundle out New Zealand for 134 before winning by 4 runs (DLS method) in the rain-affected second ODI at Wellington.
India's go-to first-change bowler at this point — he hasn't taken the new ball since the third ODI against Afghanistan — Brar exploited the conditions in Wellington as he hit the hard lengths and forced New Zealand batters to play across the line. And it worked. He removed Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips in the same over before coming back for Mitchell Santner and Nathan Smith. "I try to learn from every match and memorise the good things I did. Previously, whatever spell I had bowled, I was trying to go full, making the batters play at it. And with that when I go for the bouncer, I know it is effective. If I overuse it, it might not work. So what matters is bowling it at the right moment and that happened today," he explained.
And the result is there to see as well. Brar 4/30, India 2-0 up. While the team management would be happy to see Brar coming to his own, it would be fair to say that the 26-year-old needed this performance as much as India did. And over the next 12 months, he would hope to deliver more such performances.
Brief scores: New Zealand: 134 all out in 41 ovs (Daryl Mitchell 55; Gurnoor Brar 4/30) lost to India 113/7 in 26 ovs (Shreyas Iyer 30; Kyle Jamieson 3/35, Jacob Duffy 3/25).