In the first ODI against Afghanistan on Saturday, Gurnur Brar had to rub his eyes when he hit the fourth delivery of his international career with ease at 148 kmph. Slow run-up, easy delivery speed and clear floaty out-swingers below six-and-a-half feet can be deadly deceptions for a batsman. And then India’s bowling coach couldn’t help but smile as he picked up his maiden international wicket by lofting the ball up the back of long-on to Afghanistan opener Ibrahim Zadran. Morne MorkelThe series brought back memories of Morkel’s grass days in international cricket. As much as the 26-year-old Brar’s debut spell on 3/27 must have excited cricket fans, it must have also settled some of the nerves of the national selection committee. Which was led by the selection committee. Ajit AgarkarA few years ago he was identified as a long format bowler. The committee stuck its neck out in selecting Brar for India’s tour of Afghanistan over domestic cricket sensation Aqib Nabi. What is interesting in Brar’s story is that he developed all these skills barely three years ago in 2022 after suffering a stress fracture. It is significant that he took up cricket only at the age of 17 at the insistence of his father, a policeman by profession in the Punjab Police, so that he would not fall into the bad habit. When the world was stuck at home during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, he secretly approached coach Virender Singh and started practicing at the Launching Pad Academy in Mohali. “Governor was around 20 when he came to me. He didn’t play junior cricket at the state level. He just wanted to grow and we used to practice secretly during the lockdown, without letting anyone see. At that time, he could barely hit 135 kmph and always bowled behind a length,” Virender told TOI. During the Lions Punjab T20 League in 2022, Gurnoor suffered a stress fracture. Virender has taken formal courses on biomechanics from local universities and has always maintained a data-driven approach in his academia. “We use all sports equipment and maintain data on our players in our academy—including sleep patterns and workload. When he broke down, I realized he needed to change his action to increase his speed and swing the ball. Before that, he couldn’t swing the ball,” Varinder said. It is not easy to change the bowling action at the age of 22 and especially when one is running out of time to reach the senior level. According to Virender, the best thing about Gurnoor is that he ‘gives himself to his coaches’. “He said he was ready to do anything as long as it opened the door to the highest level of cricket,” recalled Virender. He then added: “So far, whatever feedback he gets. Ashish Nehra Among the coaches of Gujarat Titans and BCCI, he blindly follows him. He did not get a match for the Titans but he was not impressed as the communication between Nehra and the selectors was evident. Nehra asked him to strengthen his bowling muscles and we did. Now back to the conversion process. “He loved fried food even though he was working hard to burn it off. But he decided to give it up. We formulated a diet increasing his protein intake from natural sources. And then we made him bowl more front-on and changed the position of his wrist to swing the ball. His head would drop in his lead-up before the delivery. We straightened him out.” “It was three months of hard training before the domestic season. He started bowling at 145 kmph in another year,” said the coach proudly after watching his ward consistently bowl 148 kmph on the international stage. “He can bowl over 150 kmph. He probably took it easy on his debut,” quipped Virender. The selection panel and the team management have high hopes from Gurnor. It has been a project that has been handled carefully. Time to ease him into the big leagues.
