For Bishnoi, backing his strengths the key to T20 success

Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi is keen to add to his lone ODI appearance and also play Tests for India.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Ravi Bishnoi isn’t exactly a conventional leg-spinner. He runs into the crease on a slight angle, whips through his action and delivers a mix of sliders and googlies. When he bowls the leg-break, the ball is usually quick through the air and takes very little turn.

It is perhaps why the 24-year-old’s methods have been quite successful in T20s — a format that is also far from conventional. Numbers say so: In 37 matches for India in the shortest version, he has claimed 56 scalps at an economy of 7.3. Notwithstanding his perplexing omission for this year’s T20 World Cup given that he was a regular in the lead-up, he has been India’s first-choice leg-spinner in the format since making his debut in February 2022.

“I just look to bowl in good areas. If you bowl in good areas, it is more difficult to hit. When you try for something extra, that is when runs are leaked,” Bishnoi told The Hindu after featuring in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy game for Gujarat at the Holkar Stadium. “My mindset is simple. I look to bowl at a good spot. If wickets come, it is fine. If they don’t come, that is also fine as long as you keep the runs down.”

Despite his effectiveness, there may be those who are critical of Bishnoi’s conservative style of bowling. Has he ever felt the need to change and perhaps give the ball more flight?

“If I was listening to what people say, I would have changed by now. I look to back my strengths,” Bishnoi said matter-of-factly.

On his exclusion from India’s victorious T20 World Cup campaign, he added: “There is nothing better than India winning. I didn’t play the World Cup this year, but I can always get an opportunity the next time.”

While his T20 credentials are established, Bishnoi is keen on adding to his lone ODI appearance and playing Tests for India too. “My process will be the same. I do vary the pace and everything, but I will try to ensure that the areas I hit don’t change.”