Ravi Bishnoi. (Source – BCCI)
Ravi Bishnoi had to wait for his opportunity in the T20I series against Bangladesh as Varun Chakaravarthy and Washington Sundar were the two spinners in action in the first two matches. However, in the third game at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday, October 12, Bishnoi replaced Arshdeep Singh and made an instant impact.
After Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to bat first, Sanju Samson’s exhilarating century helped the Men in Blue amass 297/6, the highest score by a Test-playing nation in the shortest format of the game. The Indian team hit a whopping 22 sixes in their innings as the pitch had nothing for the bowlers. However, when India came out to defend the mammoth score, they showed no signs of complacency and eventually restricted their opponents to 164/7 in 20 overs.
Bishnoi, who was the pick of the bowlers, bagging figures of 3/30 in four overs, revealed that Suryakumar asked the team before the start of the second innings to try and restrict Bangladesh below 170 as it would help them in the long run.
“When we walked into bowl, Suryakumar Yadav told us that we were defending 160-170 and not 300 as it would help us prepare for matches later on which will have such scores. It was a good surface to bat on but that’s the mentality we had,” Bishnoi was quoted as saying by India Today.
The approach is when you are on the top, be on the top: Ravi Bishnoi
Bishnoi was asked to explain the difference between this Indian team and the previous ones. The 24-year-old replied that the main difference was the aggression and it was clear to see. He also said that the management advises the team to quickly shift focus from a match that has already been played to one that is on the horizon.
“This is the new generation, and you can see what the difference is. 298 runs was the target and look how we attacked and bowled them out for 160s. The approach is when you are on the top, be on the top,” Bishnoi said. “With this Indian team, we have been told by the management that every day is a new day. Once yesterday’s match is done it is done, we cannot live with it.”