Vaibhav Arora celebrates a wicket. (File)
Pacer Vaibhav Arora who had a breakthrough season with Kolkata Knight Riders last season, picking up 11 wickets in their title winning campaign has said he is working on improving his death bowling skills.
In KKR’s outstanding run, Arora was one of the finds of the season with his strikes in the powerplay being much talked about. With a natural ability to swing the new ball, KKR used him to good effect in the powerplay which allowed them to save the likes of Harshit Rana and Mitchell Starc for the death overs.
And Arora said, he has been working on his death bowling skills with the next edition of the IPL around the corner. “I did well in the powerplay in 2024, and I’ll take confidence from that. However, I have worked on my death bowling, and I want to be as effective as possible even at that stage of the game. I’ve focused on my slower ones, yorkers and other variations even in red ball cricket. I’ll try to bring that same execution to white ball cricket to try and do well at any stage of the game”, he added.
RR vs KKR IPL 2024: Kolkata Knight Riders’ Ventakesh Iyer, Vaibhav Arora, Manish Pandey and others during a practice session ahead of an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 T20 cricket match between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), at the ACA Stadium, Barsapara, in Guwahati. (PTI)
Arora said he has been working with KKR bowling coach Bharat Arun in this regard. Crediting his coach’s impact, he said, “I’ve worked with Bharat sir in the last couple of years, this will be the third year. The way he shares his experiences and learnings has helped me become a better bowler each year. So hopefully, I’ll do even better under his guidance this year and try to make the team win.”
Since the last IPL, he has seen his teammate Harshit Rana take rapid strides and become a part of India’s pace pack. After making his Test debut in Australia, Rana also featured in the ODIs against England. And Arora said he is looking forward to reunite with Rana at KKR. “This is our third year together. We didn’t get a chance to play together initially but when we did, we had done well for the team. Even last year when we won the trophy, as a partnership, we worked well together from both ends. When you’re bowling in partnerships, there’s a different relation you create off the field as well. This year he was retained, and I was bought in the auction. It feels like the brothers have reunited again.”
Arora said was excited to wear the Purple and Gold again, after the franchise bought him at the auction for Rs 1.80 crore. “It was special to be back with KKR. I’ve been with the Knight Riders since the last four seasons and there is an emotional attachment with the franchise. It feels like my own family. So, when KKR picked me again, I was relieved to go back to the team I won the title with last year. I didn’t want to play for any other team”, he stated.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
