Gurnoor Brar’s four-wicket spell powers North Zone in Duleep Trophy semifinal in Bengaluru

Gurnoor Brar took four wickets for North Zone in the Duleep Trophy semifinal against South Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on August 31, 2026. The Punjab pacer, who has been fast-tracked into India’s ODI and Test set-up, produced a sustained bowling spell during the match.

The 26-year-old said his approach is built on mindset and persistence. "It is very important to have a good mindset," Gurnoor told reporters at the BCCI Centre of Excellence, adding: "If we go into the game thinking ‘there is nothing in the surface,’ we are already behind. I try to make the batsman feel I’m always in the game. That’s the motive I go into every game with — take the wicket out of the equation."

North Zone relied heavily on Gurnoor through his workload and pace. He bowled nearly a fourth of North Zone’s overs, dismissed four of the top-six and "routinely beat batters for pace," the report said. "Pace is very important for me," he said. "But there are advantages and disadvantages. If we don’t stick to the right lines and length, runs can flow."

Match reports described his spell as a "blistering early morning bowling effort" on a surface that offered little assistance. The article records Gurnoor as having figures of "four for 70" in one account and notes he "took four wickets for 88 runs" on a largely sedate pitch in another passage of the same report.

Gurnoor outlined the training philosophy behind his output, emphasising volume and conditioning. "From the beginning, I have always believed in training my body to high loads. No matter how much I bowl, it should not matter. "There is a need for breaks, obviously. [But] I have an old fast bowler’s mindset: the more you bowl, the stronger you become."

At the close of day two of the Duleep Trophy semifinal at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, South Zone led North Zone by 90 runs.