Gurnoor Brar reveals Indian pacers' hard-length plan for first NZ ODI

At Eden Park in Auckland on November 4, India bowled New Zealand out for 185 in the opening match of their five-match ODI series. Rain intervened to revise India's target to 143 runs from 32 overs, and they chased it down comfortably, with Virat Kohli contributing 74 runs to the pursuit.

Right-arm pacer Gurnoor Brar was central to India's bowling effort, returning figures of 3/44 from 9.2 overs. He removed Tom Latham and Tim Seifert during his spell, with Blair Tickner accounting for his third wicket.

Arshdeep Singh was the pick of the Indian attack, finishing with four wickets in the match, while Anshul Kamboj was equally disciplined, conceding only 22 runs from his full allocation of 10 overs and picking up two wickets. Brar spoke about the bowling approach the Indian pacers had mapped out ahead of the game, crediting conversations with Arshdeep and Kamboj for shaping his length during the match.

What was India's bowling plan at Auckland?

India's pacers arrived at Eden Park with a clear understanding of the ground's dimensions and the nature of the surface. The team had trained in Auckland for four or five days before the match, which gave the bowlers a feel for the conditions and the pace of the pitch.

Brar explained that the short straight boundary at the venue influenced the group's thinking. After conceding a six off a slightly full delivery in his first over, he adjusted his length to make it harder for batters to clear the leg-side boundary. He discussed this approach with Arshdeep Singh and Kamboj, both of whom had already bowled on that surface and advised him to target the hard length, noting that his height would generate extra bounce.

"The game plan was that the straight boundary here is a little short. The six I conceded off my first over was on a slightly full-ish delivery. So my thought process was to pull the length back to make it hard to hit over square leg or fine leg. I discussed this with Arshdeep and Anshul, who had bowled on this wicket, and they suggested if we hit the hard length, I would get a better bounce because of my height," Brar said in a video posted by BCCI on X (formerly Twitter).

How does this performance fit into Brar's ODI career so far?

Brar's 3/44 at Auckland is his second-best bowling return in ODI cricket, falling short of his previous best of 3/27. Across 10 ODI appearances, he has taken 17 wickets at an average of 36.76. His record in the format has included mixed outings, notably in matches against England at home, making this performance in New Zealand one of his more complete efforts at the international level.

"The atmosphere here is very good for bowling. The wickets are quite good. We had practiced here for four or five days earlier, so the wicket was similar. I just backed my length and my bowling style, and these are the results," Brar said.