Sydney Thunder's BBL young gun Arjun Nair has shaken off the disappointment of a bowling suspension to signal he is an all-round star in the making.
While his side crashed out of the tournament with a nine-run loss to the Melbourne Renegades in Canberra on Wednesday, Nair's quickfire 45 from 25 balls gave Thunder fans something to smile about.
The 19-year-old finger spinner, who has the ability to turn the ball both ways, was banned from bowling for 90 days over his "suspect action" in a BBL game earlier in the season.
The Thunder backed him as a specialist batsman and he delivered with three powerful sixes setting the tone for an 84-run stand with veteran Ben Rohrer which almost rescued the match.
Before the suspension, Nair snared 11 wickets in eight matches.
Rohrer said Nair's ability to perform in a must-win match while enduring a tough time was a measure of his character.
"It just shows what sort of a kid he is," Rohrer said.
"He's pretty cool, calm and collected.
"You see him when he's out there he's got the bling going so he's pretty confident in his own ability. And I would be too if I could hit them like him.
"He's going to be a good player (with both) bat and ball going forward for Australia."
Nair taught himself to bowl the doosra by watching clips of West Indian tweaker Sunil Narine.
Narine has also been forced to spend time out of the game to reform an illegal bowling action.
But despite Nair being unable to get a crack at the Renegades' batsmen at Manuka Oval, he punished their bowlers with clean hitting rather than brute force.
"He's a tiny kid but he's got a beautiful bat swing, which I think kids these days are working on," Rohrer said.
"They've been watching Twenty20 for the last seven years whereas when I was growing up you were working on your forward defence."
Rohrer, 36, hammered 48 off 21 including 28 off one Jack Wildermuth over and says he is keen to continue playing BBL next season.
