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Kolkata Knight Riders have discovered a surprise hero in Vaibhav Arora in the post Mitchell Starc era. The team management trusts the pacer so much now that they are not hesitant to pick him ahead of more reputed international names, assistant coach Ottis Gibson said on Monday.
Arora was a revelation with the new ball. He produced a match-winning spell of 3 for 29 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. His scalps included the prized wickets of Travis Head and Ishan Kishan, which derailed SRH's chase.
"Yeah, I think he's (Arora) done very well for us. You know, both him and Harshit (Rana) have done very well for us," Gibson said at the pre-match press conference ahead of his side's game against Lucknow Super Giants.
"You look at the fact that in the last game, for instance, that we were able to leave out Spencer Johnson, an international player, to play these two guys and back them because we trust them. We know what they're doing," he added.
Johnson, the Australian left-arm pacer, has struggled for rhythm, managing just one wicket from three matches while conceding 10 runs an over.
But Arora and Harshit led the pace attack admirably alongside Andre Russell. The trio combined to take six wickets, eventually bowling out SRH for a paltry 120 and sealing an emphatic 80-run victory.
Arora is now the joint-leading wicket-taker for the franchise with their ace India spinner Varun Chakravarthy -- 6 wickets each.
The former West Indies pacer credited Arora's hard work with mentor Dwayne Bravo for his improved performances.
"We know how hard Vaibhav is working with (mentor) DJ (Dwayne) Bravo in terms of strategies, in terms of how he's going to set up his overs and how he's going to look to take wickets. That's working very well and hopefully that will continue to work," Gibson said.
"But, like I said, the fact that we were able to leave out an international (bowler) and trust these two local guys and they went out and performed for us was a really pleasing sight."
Asked whether spin or pace is the bigger strength of the KKR bowling unit, Gibson offered a nuanced response.
"Bowling is the strength. We have no strengths. If we take wickets with a new ball, then we can be very dangerous in the middle-overs, of course, with Varun and Sunil (Narine)," he said.
"And if we don't take wickets with a new ball, then we've still got those guys that we can utilise in the middle-overs. We played Moeen Ali, who bowled very well for us in Rajasthan, and he didn't even get to bowl any overs in the last game. We've got some more overs into Russell."
Gibson acknowledged that while Russell could be expensive at times, his knack for picking up crucial wickets makes him a valuable asset.
"He might go for runs but he always takes a wicket for us. He's a partnership-breaker and we use him in that way as an impact sort of bowler. If you like to come on and take a wicket, then we can get him off and get one of our better bowlers back on," he explained.
Sunil Narine has been struggling for big runs at pole position but Gibson played down any concern.
"No concern whatsoever. Still early days in the tournament. Of course, we know what he can do. We know what he did last year.
"We're still trying to, as a team, establish some consistency. We know that Sunil Narine, on his day, can take apart any bowling attack and we look forward to that happening."
Rishabh Pant has struggled for runs and it seems that the LSG skipper may promote himself in the batting order.
Gibson said their bowling unit is ready for any such plans by the opposition.
"We actually just had our planning meetings and we know how dangerous he can be. And of course, he hasn't had any form yet.
"We hope that that continues this week as well. So we've planned for every possibility. If he opens, if he moves position, we've planned for all of that."