Arnav Bugga's unique move, chuck legspin to pick five with offspin and pace

While Virender Sehwag’s son Aaryavir hogged all the limelight on social media thanks to his 297 off 309 balls in Delhi under-19 cricket team’s win over Meghalaya in the Cooch Behar Trophy, Arnav Bugga’s unique feat went unnoticed.

Arnav, a leg-spinner and an opening batsman, chucked his usual bowling style and delivered off-spin and medium-pace to return with a five-wicket haul (5/46) in the second innings. He had a match haul of 8/88.

To top that, he scored 114 and added 180 for the first wicket with Sehwag junior.

“The conditions were suited to medium-pace and the fact that there were many left-handers in the opposition camp prompted me to bowl medium-pace and off-spin,” said Arnav after Delhi completed an innings and 191-run win over Meghalaya in Shillong on Saturday.

Aaryavir Sehwag (left) and Arnav Bugga in Shillong

“Before the match, coach [Yogesh Nagar] asked me if I can bowl medium pace. Last year too, I had got two batsmen against Rajasthan with it. The coach had heard about it. When he asked me about it prior to the match, I said I had bowled it. He asked me to bowl at single-wicket. He liked it and then said, why not bowl it in the match,” added Arnav, a Delhiite who stays in Bhopal nowadays and trains there under Sanjay Bhardwaj, who has groomed the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Navdeep Saini, Unmukt Chand and Nitish Rana before shifting to the Madhya Pradesh capital.

The 16-year-old picked three wickets in the first innings through medium-pace and missed a hat-trick.

In the second innings, he got the left-handed opener Shubham, a left-hander, with off-spin at slip caught off the glove. The right-handed Manthan was also bowled with off-spin.

He then switched to medium-pace to get the next two wickets, one caught at slip and another caught at mid-wicket.

Arnav wound up with his fifth, left-handed Ryngkhlem, through off-spin.

"I am not fast but I can swing the ball. My speed would be 110-115."

Medium-pacer Uddhav Mohan got 4/88 and 5/59.

“When I was dismissed for 114, Aaryavir was on 50-60. He faced more deliveries at the start. But he picked pace after that.”

The win has pushed Delhi to No. 2 in the points table just behind Baroda. Delhi had lost to Odisha and then defeated Karnataka.

Tags : Cooch Behar Trophy, Arnav Bugga, Aaryavir Sehwag, Delhi under-19 cricket team, Gautam Gambhir, Navdeep Saini, Bhopal