Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Vaibhav Arora had a breakout season in IPL 2024 and, since then has witnessed a meteoric rise. The pacer has played three seasons so far in IPL and already has 31 wickets to his name. In fact, he is one of KKR’s go-to bowlers for taking wickets. Amid IPL 2025, the pacer has revealed who the toughest batter to bowl to so far.
Arora names SKY as toughest to bowl to
Speaking to Saurav Yaduvanshi on his On the Road podcast, Arora revealed that Suryakumar Yadav was the toughest batter to bowl to.
“I personally feel Surya bhai (is toughest to bowl to). He can play any shot against you off any delivery and in any area. It is very tough to plan against him because he plays in all directions,” Arora said.
When it comes to bowling, he looks up to another Mumbai Indians player: Jasprit Bumrah. Considered the best bowler in the world across formats, Bumrah has a great influence on Arora.
“I look up to Jasprit Bumrah. Pick any format, any skill, he has everything. He knows how to bowl in a test match and how to bowl to a certain batter. He has slower deliveries, yorkers, bouncers, length ball, inswingers, and outswingers. He is a proper bowler, a complete package,” Arora said of Bumrah.
| Format | Mat | Wkts | Ave | Econ | 4w | 5w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC | 28 | 95 | 24.24 | 3.35 | 4 | 4 |
| List A | 22 | 36 | 24.50 | 5.14 | 1 | 1 |
| T20s | 59 | 61 | 27.50 | 8.36 | 0 | 0 |
| IPL | 29 | 31 | 28.35 | 9.22 | 0 | 0 |
IPL journey and Gambhir’s influence
The KKR pacer also detailed how his IPL journey commenced. He started as a net bowler with Punjab Kings before he moved into their main squad in 2022. After that, he has been a part of KKR for three seasons now and was also a part of the IPL 2024-winning KKR side.
When asked about his favourite skipper that he has played under, Vaibhav replied that both Shreyas Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane both were good captains that he has played under.
However, he also credited Gautam Gambhir for shaping him as a cricketer. Gambhir was mentor at KKR in IPL 2024 before he became the head coach of India Cricket Team.
“It was a great experience. I learnt a lot from Gambhir sir, including how your attitude should be on a cricket field. We became the champions when he was the mentor. The time I spent with him at KKR was the best time of my career. He knows how to get the best performance out of a player,” Vaibhav Arora said.
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