Gurnoor Brar has been impressive for India so far. Image Credits: AFP
Gurnoor Brar has been fast-tracked into the Indian setup despite minimal IPL experience. Even in List A cricket, he had only nine matches under his belt across the Vijay Hazare Trophy and India A before his international debut.
Still, the selectors chose him when Harshit Rana was unavailable for the Afghanistan series. As it turned out, India also handed him a debut ahead of Prince Yadav in Dharamsala.
The superior attributes of Gurnoor Brar
Gurnoor Brar has played only two games for India so far, but it’s not hard to understand why he has been rated highly. His attributes are indeed distinct from most other Indian pacers, with several natural advantages.
For starters, he’s tall and has higher release points than his counterparts. Standing at 6 feet 5 inches, Gurnoor has the highest median release point (2.10 meters) in the ongoing Afghanistan series.
Despite being fairly tall with a high-arm release, even Prasidh Krishna’s release point (2.07 meters) is marginally behind Gurnoor's. That helps him hit back-of-a-length consistently and generate steep bounce that climbs on the batters.
Gurnoor Brar has the highest release point in IND vs AFG series
In Lucknow, Rahmanullah Gurbaz tried to work a hard length square of the wicket, but the extra bounce at an awkward angle meant he could only get an outside edge. The ball went straight into the wicketkeeper’s gloves, as the bounce got the better of Gurbaz.
Even Hashmatullah Shahidi and Rahmat Shah were beaten by bounce and pace at times in Dharamsala. That’s what he does - combining pace with bounce.
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In the ongoing series, Gurnoor Brar has bowled around 75.53% deliveries over 140 km/h, the most among all pacers. He also ranks highest in speed, with a median pace of 143.36 km/h.
Movement at pace
In the powerplay, Gurnoor Brar has two wickets at 12.50 runs apiece and an economy rate of 5. A notable feature has been his ability to move the ball at pace, which is a lethal combination and possibly the toughest for batters to tackle.
Among bowlers with at least 20 deliveries over 135 km/h, Gurnoor finds the second-most swing (1.02°) in the series. Prince Yadav is at the top, with a median swing of 1.44°.
However, on deliveries above 140 km/h, which are the extra-quick ones, Gurnoor has found a median swing of 0.72°. All other pacers combined have found a median swing of 0.60° on balls at this pace.
Gurnoor Brar bowls at pace, giving batters less time to react
0.47 seconds - that's all the time batters get against Gurnoor Brar, the lowest reaction time among all pacers. Prasidh Krishna and Prince Yadav follow, both at 0.48.
The ball always comes quicker than they anticipate, and batters get a bit less time to play the shot. Hence, it results in more edges or misses, and unsurprisingly, Brar has generated the most false shots (39.33%) in the series so far.
Afganistan batter Ibrahim Zadran’s dismissal in the opening game serves as a perfect example. Brar managed to generate late away movement from the fuller length, and the batter could only get a leading edge straight to mid-off.
How Gurnoor Brar’s attributes make him an exciting prospect for World Cup 2027
It’s still a long way to go, but Gurnoor Brar has definitely shown enough promise. He understands how to bowl with the new and old balls, and his skills are suited for the conditions in South Africa.
While not all pitches will be seaming or bouncy, India will need an extra pacer in the XI at times. Brar has definitely pushed his case by flexing precisely the attributes needed to be part of the setup.
Harshit Rana is another option, but India won’t mind Gurnoor Brar ahead of him should he continue impressing with his skills. Brar has more potential as a middle-order enforcer and is definitely a better new-ball bowler than Harshit.
Harshit doesn’t move the ball as much early in the innings. Then, his defensive skills haven’t developed fully just yet in this format, and he can be expensive at times.
These are early days, but India’s desperation for more pace-bowling options is palpable. That’s one of the reasons they have also drafted in Prince Yadav for the Afghanistan series.
Gurnoor Brar is a well-built pacer with decent India A performances on relatively flat tracks in limited chances. The selectors definitely see the value, and more fiery spells in upcoming assignments will reinforce his position in the ODI team and push him closer to the 2027 World Cup squad.
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