Ravi Bishnoi credits Indian legend Anil Kumble after maiden call-up to Team India

Young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi was on Wednesday (January 26) rewarded with a maiden India call-up for the upcoming T20 series against the West Indies, while senior wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav also returned to the white-ball setup after a knee surgery. Skipper Rohit Sharma on the day cleared his fitness test and was back in-charge for the series that starts with ODIs in Ahmedabad from February 6.

Bishnoi was also announced as the third draft pick for the new Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Lucknow Super Giants with a Rs 4 crore contract for IPL 2022. After getting picked for the national squad for the upcoming home series against West Indies, Bishnoi recalled how Anil Kumble helped him along the way. Bishnoi still remembers the advice given to him by Kumble and hopes to adhere to it.

“I have learned a lot from Anil sir, and those lessons have helped me in becoming a better cricketer. He would always guide me on how to back myself and never lose hope under pressure. Those things were of immense help. He always told me to play to my strengths. The advice was that I should stick to my basics and just execute the plans. There was no experiment. He gave me the confidence to play freely,” Bishnoi was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

Bishnoi confirmed that he had been preparing himself for this opportunity and hoped to grab his chance.  “I was waiting for my opportunity. I was preparing myself for the big league and was keeping myself ready so that I can give my hundred per cent whenever an opportunity comes my way. My only aim was to keep performing and then wait for my turn,” Bishnoi said.

Bishnoi has been one of the finds of the Indian Premier League for the Punjab Kings and has been picked up by new franchise Lucknow Super Giants from the drafts for the next IPL. In 42 T20 games, he has 49 wickets at a great economy rate of 6.63. In 17 List A games, he has 24 wickets and an economy rate of 5.48.

And here we go....
Maiden ODI and T20I call-up for @bishnoi0056!

Way to go, champ!

: @ICC #LucknowSuperGiants #TeamIndia #INDvWI pic.twitter.com/BVK60Oi6jE — Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) January 26, 2022

He primarily bowls googlies which is his stock delivery and occasionally bowls leg-breaks. With Kuldeep, Yuzvendra Chahal and Bishnoi, India is again going back to the trusted formula of wrist spin which gave them lot of success between 2017 to 2019.

ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan

T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel.

(with PTI inputs)