Published By: Saksham Mishra

Ravi Bishnoi's best bowling figures in T20Is

Ravi Bishnoi's best figures in T20 Internationals came against West Indies when he took 4 wickets while giving away just 16 runs.

Right place, right time

Had Kuldeep Yadav not been injured right after the IPL, he was possibly in line to be the second wrist spinner in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup after Yuzvendra Chahal.

However, Kuldeep suffered a long injury layoff, and in the meantime, Ravi Bishnoi, who did not have a great IPL 2022 rose through the ranks in Indian cricket by putting in some consistent performances.

Playing crucial role in victory

His four wickets from just 2.4 overs during India's tour to West Indies took the team to another victory against West Indies in the 5th T20 international, leaving stand-in captain Hardik Pandya quite content.

Hardik Pandya | India skipper: It's a very special feeling to get a chance to lead your country. Obviously winning the games means a lot to me. Captain Ro did everything well before this game, so I just ensured that we kept doing the good work. (On captaincy) Why not? If given a chance, I'll be more than happy to do it. But for now, we have a World Cup coming, it's about getting better as a team. The kind of talent the players have and the freedom we're getting, this is the New India.

I can see players playing with freedom and not worrying about failing. And when you do that, you tend to do special things. I wanted to give Axar the ball early because he is used to bowling in the powerplay, he is capable of holding his own and then with the wrist spinners, I knew we could get the wickets. It's about how we can get better from here. Preparation-wise we're ready for the World Cup but in this sport, you never stop learning. So it's about learning with each game.

Keeping Rovman Powell on a leash 

And it was not as if Bishnoi picked up cheap wickets through and through. He was brought into the attack a little later but struck right away, getting the better of Rovman Powell who has struggled against Ravi Bishnoi as the bowler does not allow Powell any time to free his arms and the ball just skids onto his pads to catch him napping.

Bishnoi then also accounted for the dismissal of ShimronHetmyer, who was easily the best batter for West Indies in the 5th T20 International and made 56 off just 35 balls to bring about the end of the West Indian resistance.