Indian spinner Ravi Bishnoi in action during 3rd T20I vs New Zealand. (PHOTO: CREIMAS FOR BCCI)
Around this time last year, Ravi Bishnoi had been central to India’s T20 World Cup plans. An unorthodox leg-spinner, who didn’t rely on flight, dip and drift, he had a googly that turned big and sliders that skidded on — the kind of deliveries that can make a bowler successful in the format. Yet, sometime during the IPL, it all began to go downhill for Bishnoi. With the T20 World Cup just 10 days away, he is now a rank-outsider who can become part of the team only if the first-choice spinners suffer injuries.
On Sunday, playing his first T20I outing in a year, Bishnoi rediscovered his old-self. His four overs, the first of which was bowled in the powerplay, saw him concede only 18 runs and take the wickets of Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman. None of his overs came in a succession with Suryakumar Yadav using him in four different spells. It was as if he just carried on from where he left off. Behind the scenes, over the last few months, in particular during the off-season, Bishnoi worked hard on his game.
Soon after the IPL, Bishnoi went to his hometown Jodhpur to work with his childhood coaches Shahrukh Khan and Pradyot Singh Rathore, who have been instrumental in his success. He spent eight hours a day training with these coaches.
“He wasn’t bowling the usual lengths he used to bowl,” Shahrukh who coaches now in Dubai tells The Indian Express. “When he came to us, he wanted to make a few tweaks and also work a lot on his batting. He was very determined. For a few weeks, he was working like any young kid in the academy who wanted to learn as much as he can,” Shahrukh says.
Sometime during the IPL, when Bishnoi had dismal returns for Lucknow SuperGiants where he took just 9 wickets from 11 matches at an average of 44.56 and an economy of 10.84, Sharukh and Pradyot had seen a pattern in the leg-spinner. “His run-up always started from outside and used to come in. But he was running straight. At the point of release, his non-bowling arm had become too straight and he was releasing the ball at an angle of 11 ‘0 clock as against the usual 1 ‘O clock that is common amongst the leg-spinners and he wasn’t using the crease,” Shahrukh dissects where it was going wrong with Bishnoi.
Videos were exchanged back and forth during the IPL, but the actual work began soon after, when he reached Jodhpur. For a few weeks, Bishnoi’s day would begin at 5 am. A four-hour training session in the morning using white and red cricket balls would be followed by one of similar duration in the evening.
“These changes have happened because cricketers evolve from time to time,” Pradyot says. “As coaches, we’d ensure they retain their originality. Since he was playing regularly, he didn’t know that mistakes had crept in. At the academy, all that he did was bowl a lot of overs. He wanted to be a different bowler when he got back again (to the Indian team). I would say it is a new, improved version of Ravi. In those months, he has come of age,” he says.
Not being a big turner of the ball, his strengths were now being taken apart. For someone who preferred to land in the 5-6m range, his sliders were being pulled by batsmen comfortably off the back-foot. “If you had seen his action, the body is tilted towards the left. The googly will always land perfectly, but the leg-spin won’t. But thanks to the hours of practice he put in, he is a different bowler now,” Shahrukh says.
When the domestic season began, the change was evident in the middle. At the SMAT he picked up 9 wickets in 7 matches at an economy of 8.72. In the Vijay Hazare, he had 12 in as many matches at an economy of 5.37. During the tournament, playing against Delhi in Bengaluru, he squared-up Ayush Badoni with a delivery that landed on middle-stump and hit the off-stump. Next day, Bishnoi would send the video to his coaches and even post it on Instagram with the tagline: “Dream ball for every LEG SPINNER” with a red-heart emoji at the end. Shahrukh explains the changes Bishnoi has made.
“Previously, he couldn’t bowl that because of his action. Now, at the point of release, it has become 12 ‘O clock and it has opened up a bit, which means his leg-breaks will also turn. With that he can get both the leg-break and the googly right. Since he got his length also right, his sliders have also got the nip back which isn’t easy to pull,” Shahrukh says.
With Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy taking the spinners slot, Bishnoi will definitely have to wait. But what should be assuring for India is that Bishnoi is ready to step in if the need arises.
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