The West Indian batters have found it hard to score against wrist spinners, particularly in the middle overs.
Interesting move
It was mildly surprising when India chose to go with two wrist spin bowling options in their line up in the first T20 International of the three match series against West Indies in 2022, played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Despite having Kuldeep Yadav in the squad, captain Rohit Sharma chose to go in with two wrist spinners in Ravi Bishnoi and Yuzvendra Chahal which was slightly odd and exciting in equal measure.
Repaying the faith The decision was based on the fact that West Indies batters have struggled to score against wrist spinners in T20 Internationals and have also given away their wickets to them on a regular basis.
Adil Rashid: 11 wickets @10.64 (ER 5.24)
Hasaranga: 10 wickets @6.10 (ER 3.81)
Shamsi: 7 wickets @16.71 (ER 5.09)
Sandakan: 6 wickets @6.50 (ER 5.09)
It turned out to be a master stroke with Ravi Bishnoi stock ball being the googly which goes away from the left handers. Despite bowling a lot of wides and being clearly nervous, Ravi Bishnoi bowled brilliantly to pick up two wickets while giving away 17 runs and received the player of the match award.
Kudos to Bishnoi
Ravi Bishnoi, Player of the Match: Feeling better now (no nerves). It's a dream to play for India and it felt good. I was nervous at the start but wanted to contribute for the team as we know West Indies is one of the strongest teams in T20 cricket. It's slightly a challenge to grip the ball when there's dew. I never thought about this (winning the MoM) but it's a dream come true moment for me.
Captain Rohit Sharma too was all praise for the under 19 find and tipped him to have a bright future with India.
"Bishnoi is a very talented guy which is why we drafted him into the squad straightaway. We see something different in him. He's got lot of variations and skill-set with him. He can bowl at any stage and it gives us a lot of options to rotate the other bowlers. Very happy with his first game for India and he's got a bright future and it's just about us now on how we use him," Rohit signed off.
