Lucknow, Apr 29 (IANS): Lucknow Super Giants spin bowler Ravi Bishnoi remains hopeful of getting selected for the Indian T20 World Cup squad, soon to be announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
However, Bishnoi’s performance in this season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been on the odd side. He has bowled 25 overs in nine matches and taken only five wickets, out of which three of the wickets he has taken in the Power play overs. Bishnoi last played a T2OI match for India against Afghanistan and only managed to strike two wickets in three matches.
With Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja almost certain to get named in the squad, it will be very difficult for the selectors to pick a third spin bowling option.
In the series against Australia in 2023, Bishnoi was India's go-to bowler, and he repaid the faith reposed in him by emerging as the 'Player of the Series', taking nine wickets from five matches. It was not just about the wickets but the whole attitude shown by him to bowl under any condition or situation was praiseworthy.
“I also want to play it, but it would be better if this work is left to the selectors only. My responsibility is to perform well for the side. I was on the standby in the last World Cup,” said Bishnoi on Monday. "If you ask personally, it is not going the way I want it to. But as a team, we are doing very well, I am very happy with that, but as an individual, I feel that I need to do much better and take the team to a better position. If I do a little better. The team will remain in a better position,” said Bishnoi, who has so far taken 58 wickets with an economy of 7.73 in as many as 61 matches in IPL.
When asked about speedster Mayank Yadav's injury and his return to the team, Bishnoi stated, “Speedsters like Mayank Yadav are very important for us in the playoff matches, but the fitness he has, we will have to keep him in the middle state, to bowl at such a speed is a very difficult task. The management is taking full care of him and the priority of his fitness in the important matches. He is equally important in every match, be it a slow wicket or a fast wicket.”
The 24-year-old believes in the process, something he has done from his Under-19 World Cup days, as seen by his T20 figures of 139 wickets in 118 outings at an economy of 7.27. "I think I'm progressing well, and my process is good. I also think that working hard is important, and I always strive to give it my all when I get the chance", he said.
But according to the bowler, there is no real difference between playing cricket for your country and a franchise. "Twenty20 cricket is an intensely competitive sport, and success requires a strong heart. Playing for one's nation, however, is undoubtedly a source of great pride.”
With the 250-run mark as the new normal of the ongoing season of the IPL, Bishnoi said that the game has now become a bullet train. “It looks like a bullet train with big scores and especially 250 runs have become a new normal. Bowlers hardly have anything to do at this IPL, and I believe that bowling as much as dot balls is a big success for a bowler.”