Young leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi was on Wednesday (January 26)
awarded a debut India call-up to the upcoming T20 match against West Indies, while senior wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav also returned to the white-ball squad following having knee surgery.
Skipper Rohit Sharma has completed the fitness tests and is now the captain for the series, which will begin with ODIs at Ahmedabad starting on 6 February.
Bishnoi was also named the third pick in the draft of the brand-new Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Lucknow Super Giants with an agreement worth Rs 4 crore to play in the IPL 2022.
After being selected to be part of the national team for the home series scheduled to begin in September with the West Indies, Bishnoi recalled how Anil Kumble was a great help in the process.
Bishnoi can still remember the tips provided to him by Kumble and is determined to stick to the advice.
“I have gained lots from Anil, sir. These experiences have assisted me in becoming an improved cricketer. He was always there to motivate me and not lose faith when under stress.
These things helped tremendously. He always advised me to use my strengths.
The advice was to stay with my basic skills and follow the rules. There was no chance to experiment.
He helped me feel confident to play with confidence,” Bishnoi was quoted in a report by Sportstar.
Bishnoi admitted that he’d been working hard to prepare himself for the opportunity and was hoping to take advantage of his opportunity.
“I was looking forward to my chance. I was getting myself ready for the big time and was preparing myself to be 100% committed when an opportunity arose. My goal was only to continue to work hard and wait for my turn to come along,” Bishnoi said.
Bishnoi is among the players discovered in this season’s Indian Premier League for the Punjab Kings and has been selected by the newly formed franchise Lucknow Super Giants from the drafts for the coming IPL.
Through his 42 T20 games, he’s scored 49 wickets, which is an impressive economy rate of 6.63. On the 17 List A games, he has 24 wickets with an economy rate of 5.48.
He mainly bowls googlies; that is his preferred delivery.
He also often bowls leg breaks. Alongside Kuldeep, Yuzvendra Chahal and Bishnoi, India is returning to their tried and tested method for wrist-spin, which brought them lots of success from 2017 until 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.
