While fans outraged on the exclusion of Ravi Bishnoi from the 1st T20I against South Africa, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar was in agreement with Rahul Dravid and Suryakumar Yadav’s decision to omit the young leg-spinner.
After the first T20I was washed out, India and South Africa locked horns in the 2nd T20I at St George’s Park in Gqeberha, where the hosts recorded a 5-wicket win.
Ravi Bishnoi was the Man of the Series award winner in the India vs Australia T20I series at home. He snapped 9 wickets including dismissals of top-order batters like Travis Head, Matt Short, and Aaron Hardie. Despite this, the youngster was benched and Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja were picked as they returned to the T20I side.
Ravi Bishnoi is still finding his feet at the international level: Sunil Gavaskar
Speaking with Star Sports, Sunil Gavaskar opined that Dravid made the right call by picking Jadeja and Kuldeep over Bishnoi as the 23-year-old is still new to international cricket and has never played an international game in South Africa.
Gavaskar feels that Bishnoi would have gone hit on this surface as he bowls faster and the Protea batters feast on higher speeds.
“If there is a bit of turn from the pitch, I think Jadeja [could inflict most damage]. He bowls so flat that he doesn’t allow the batter any chance to go down the pitch and attack him. So if there’s just a bit of assist, his four overs could be telling as far as India are concerned,” Gavaskar said.
“Ravi Bishnoi… still finding his feet at the international level. Yes, he is the No. 1 T20 bowler in the world but again, if you get stuck into him, sometimes you tend to see him bowl faster and quicker. The faster you bowl on a good pitch, it gets that much easier for the batters because the pace is exactly what they are looking for,” he added.
