Brainder Sran: International cricketers who helped pacer along the way!

New Delhi: Brainder Sran's inclusion in India's squad for the upcoming Australian tour caught most cricket fans by surprise.

Having impressed national selectors, left-arm pacer is being looked at as potential future star.

The 23-year-old, who initially trained to become a professional boxer, says interactions with international cricketers helped him improve as a pacer.

Most of the help came from bowlers of Rajasthan Royals side that bought him for a base price of Rs.10 lakh earlier this year.

“It helped a lot to be part of Rajasthan Royals. I hadn’t played any cricket at the higher level then and speaking with the international cricketers in the team helped me a lot,” Sran told BCCI.tv

“Players like Tim Southee and James Faulkner had constant conversations with me, guiding me, telling me how things work in terms of bowling and field placements. Rahul (Dravid) sir boosted my confidence and encouraged me all the time. All this mattered a lot to me," he further added.

Sran's Punjab skipper Yuvraj Singh once compared him to a young Zaheer Khan.

Brainder says he watched a lot videos of not just Zaheer but also Wasim Akram, considered the greatest ever left-arm pacer in cricket history.

"When I started playing cricket, there was no one in particular [as my idol]. But once I started playing professionally and understood the game better, I came to admire Wasim Akram and Zaheer Khan. I started to watch Zak pa’s bowling and Wasim Akram’s videos a lot," Brainder said.

"I haven’t had the chance to talk to Zak pa but I did have a brief conversation with Wasim sir for about 15-20 minutes. It was about how to operate with the old ball and which areas to bowl in from over and around the stumps. He said that he would teach me properly when we meet in the nets some day," he further added.