India pacer Gurnoor Brar, who took 4 wickets in the second ODI against New Zealand in Wellington, said that the extra bounce and pace on offer helped him exploit the conditions with his hard-length deliveries.
Brar came up with his career-best figures, playing a major role in India’s 4-run win via DLS over the hosts on Saturday.
“I really enjoyed it. Bowling here in New Zealand, the bounce and the pace really helped me, so I enjoyed it. Obviously, in India the pitches are quite flat, so we have to bowl that hard length. But here, there’s that extra bounce. So I was just bowling to my strengths, and it worked,” he said at the post-match presentation ceremony after being adjudged as the player of the game.
“If you’re a fast bowler bowling at an average of 140 or 142, you have to be aggressive as well. But you have to know your limits too. I just enjoy it and keep bowling. I just try to bowl that hard length, the lengths where batters try to pull. I don’t want to bowl it very high; I just keep bowling at shoulder level,” he added.
Later, in the post-match press conference, Brar admitted that being taken apart during the West Indies series was “a little demotivating” but said he learnt from the setbacks and bounced back strongly in New Zealand, strengthening his case for a role in India’s 2027 ODI World Cup plans.
“As far as the Lord’s and Guwahati matches were concerned, obviously, it is not a good thing for a bowler to be hit, but what matters is how you learn from there and come back,” Brar said.
“That is the bigger thing. It was a little demotivating, but more than that, I was thinking about how I could do better. That helped me a lot,” he added.
Brar had made an impressive start to his international career with seven wickets against Afghanistan and four in three matches against England, despite being expensive at times. However, he struggled against the West Indies, conceding 96 runs for two wickets in Guwahati, going wicketless for 60 in Thiruvananthapuram and taking 1/64 in Mullanpur.
On Saturday, Brar was beautifully complemented by Auqib Nabi (2/31 in 7 overs) and Anshul Kamboj (2/25 in 8 overs) as the trio clinically decimated the Black Caps for 134 in just 41 overs. With the pitch aiding bounce and movement, the chase became way tougher than expected.