SportsPosted at: Nov 7 2026 6:39PM


Gill backs Gurnoor Brar to shine at top level, says experience will bring consistency

New Delhi, Nov 7 (UNI) India captain Shubman Gill believes young pacer Gurnoor Brar has all the attributes to succeed at the international level but said gaining experience and learning to deliver under pressure would be key to his development.
Brar made another strong impression in the second ODI against New Zealand in Wellington on Saturday, claiming four wickets to help India bowl out the hosts for 134. His effort played a major role in the visitors' four-run victory under the DLS method, which gave them a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Gill was particularly impressed with the 26-year-old’s pace and ability to extract bounce, while pointing out that greater exposure to international cricket would help him become more consistent.
“In the last match, Gurnoor bowled really well too. As he gets more experience, he’ll get more consistent. He already has the pace and bounce. Most of the seamers have all the qualities. International cricket is about performing under pressure,” he said.
The Punjab right-armer, who regularly bowls in the 140-142 kmph range, said the extra bounce and pace on New Zealand pitches suited his style of bowling.
He also stressed that aggression needed to be balanced with an understanding of one's limitations.
“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,” he said.
He explained that he preferred attacking batters with hard lengths and shoulder-high bouncers rather than pitching the ball too high.
“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.
While India's bowling effort put them in a strong position, the chase turned out to be far more difficult than Gill had anticipated. India were reduced to 113 for seven in 26 overs when rain stopped play, but were four runs ahead of the DLS par score to seal the contest.
“As long as we get the win. It wasn’t easy batting. Getting them out at 134, I thought it’ll be an easy target, but it wasn’t. Happy we got there in the end,” Gill said.
The India skipper admitted that his side had lost more wickets than necessary on a surface that offered considerable assistance to the seamers.
“The pitch was challenging but we lost two extra wickets than we’d have liked in the end,” he said, referring to the late dismissals of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Anshul Kamboj.
Meanwhile, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner felt his side had missed an opportunity to post a more competitive total. He believed another 20-30 runs could have made the contest much closer.
“Even if there was a potential way of scraping to 160 or 180, we could have gone from there,” he said.
Santner also credited his bowlers for keeping India under pressure by picking up wickets at regular intervals. Jacob Duffy and Kyle Jamieson claimed three wickets apiece as the visitors struggled through their chase.
“The only way to get into that target was to take wickets at the top. We managed to do that, and then I think the guys coming back in, spell after spell, managed to get the breakthroughs throughout, which is key in ODI cricket,” he said.
The New Zealand captain did not bowl in the match, despite initially warming up. He explained that the movement on offer made him decide to leave the attack to his seamers.
“I think we got up. I think I got pulled, so I just said, ‘Yeah, you guys look like you’re doing all right.’ It was one of those wickets where the seamers looked pretty challenging on,” he said.
India's win in Wellington followed their five-wicket victory in the series opener in Auckland. They now need just one more victory to secure the series.
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