India pacer Gurnoor Brar impressed one and all with his batting heroics in the ongoing three-day warm-up match against Sri Lanka Cricket XI. In the final over of Day 2, the player, who bats left-handed, smashed Sri Lanka spinner Dilum Sudeera for four sixes in five deliveries.
Devdutt Padikkal took a single off the first ball and gave the strike to Gurnoor. The player smacked two maximums and then refused a single to Padikkal. Gurnoor backed himself and hit two more sixes to end the day on a high for India. He remained not out on 36 off just 18 balls.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir was left mighty impressed with Gurnoor’s performance in the last over as he clapped for the player with smile on his face.
A hundred in the warm-up game against SLC XI in Colombo on Saturday, coupled with Sai Sudharsan’s injury-enforced absence, might have ensured a place for Devdutt Padikkal in India’s XI for the upcoming first Test in Galle, starting August 15.
But the foundation for Devdutt’s potential return to India whites after nearly two years was laid during the long hours he put in with his childhood coach Mohammad Naseeruddin before boarding a Colombo-bound flight.
The duo devised a plan to counter the Lankan spin armada, playing with Kookaburra balls on pitches that offered copious turn.
“Devdutt approached me after the KSCA Maharaja Trophy T20, where he played only one match because of his India A duties, and wanted to start training with red balls before going to Sri Lanka,” Naseeruddin told PTI.
“It did not matter to him at that time whether he got a place in the XI or not. He wanted to prepare in the best possible way and be ready if a chance came his way. So, we started training with normal red balls.
“But then we came up with the idea of using Kookaburra balls in training because they are used in Sri Lanka for Tests. So, he bought those balls and we started practising with them.”