From making Virat Kohli “angry” in the nets to castling Cheteshwar Pujara in a crucial Ranji Trophy match, Tamil Nadu pacer Gurjapneet Singh has caught the eyes of cricket lovers in India. Born and raised in Ambala, Gurjapneet constantly failed to get into Punjab age-group team, before finally deciding to move to Chennai for better opportunities. After initial struggles, Gurjapneet is now winning games in Ranji Trophy for his adopted state, Tamil Nadu. The 25-year-old claimed a six-wicket haul to help Tamil Nadu beat Saurashtra in their Elite Group D match on Monday.
His remarkable figures of 14-5-22-6 included the crucial wickets of veterans Cheteshwar Pujara and Sheldon Jackson.
For the unversed, Gurjapneet was one of the net bowlers for India for their two-match Test series against Bangladesh recently.
In a recent interaction, Gurjapneet recalled castling Kohli in the nets, which infuriated the star batter.
“After I bowled him, I looked at him and didn’t dare to look at him again. He was very, very angry. But I realised, he was angry with himself more than anything. And after a straight drive, he again looked at me and smiled,” Gurjapneet told the Indian Express.
However, Gurjapneet also revealed Kohli’s advice, which helped him get the better of the Saurashtra batters.
“He told me, when there is no movement, change the angle and try bowling around the wicket. Because with that angle, even if you manage to get slight movement, it will end up troubling most batsmen,” he further revealed.
Meanwhile, Kohli will be back in action on Wednesday as India take on New Zealand in the first Test in Bengaluru.
The young pacer also shed light on how he planned Pujara’s dismissal, describing the latter as a “legend”.
“When you bowl to a legendary batsman like him, you have to be accurate from the word go. So the plan was to push him on the backfoot and then send in a good front foot ball that would make him uncomfortable. Having gone wicketless in the first innings, Bala bhai (L Balaji) told me to go out there looking for a wicket as there is a strong chance that I would deviate from the plan. And with the pitch not offering much, around the stumps was the best option and it worked as we also saw (Jaydev) Unadkat do the same in the morning session” Gurjapneet added.
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