'Kohli's Advice Helps IND Net Bowler Dismiss Pujara for Duck: How Virat's Words Inspired Me'

Tamil Nadu, the two-time champions, began their Ranji Trophy 2024/25 season with an impressive win against former winner Saurashtra at the SNR College Cricket Ground in Coimbatore. Gurjapneet Singh was the star performer, claiming a remarkable six-wicket haul in the second innings. His figures of 6 for 22 restricted Saurashtra to only 94 runs after being asked to follow-on, leading Tamil Nadu to a convincing victory by an innings and 70 runs.

The stand-out dismissal for the left-arm fast bowler, with a quick-arm action, much like Ashish Nehra, was dismissing India veteran Cheteshwar Pujara for a six-ball duck in the second innings. But the Tamil Nadu bowler, who originally hails from Ambala, credited Virat Kohli for the dismissal.

It was only a month back when Gurjapneet met Kohli during the Indian team's preparatory camp at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, ahead of the home Test series against Bangladesh, but all he distinctly remembered was Kohli's cold stare.

Gurjapneet, who was part of the camp as a net bowler, dismissed Kohli during a training session, leaving the former India captain fuming, but at himself. He remembered the expression vividly, but only told himself to not look back again.

“After I bowled him, I looked at him and didn’t dare to look at him again,” Gurjapneet told The Indian Express in an interview. “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.”

However, Kohli later took time to pass on some advice to the Tamil Nadu pacer. “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 revealed.

In the second innings of Tamil Nadu's Ranji Trophy opener, Gurjapneet welcomed Pujara with a sharp bouncer, followed by a few length balls, then another bouncer, before delivering what Kohli had told him. He squared up Pujara with the angling delivery that shaped away and the India batter was pinned LBW.

“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 (Jaidev) Unadkat do the same in the morning session” Gurjapneet said.