India had Kumble, Ashwin but Bishnoi is different…: IND’s hero in AUS T20I win earns special praise from Muralitharan

One of the standout aspects of India’s stellar 4-1 T20I series win against Australia, in the absence of almost all their white-ball regulars post the long ODI World Cup campaign, has been the performance of Ravi Bishnoi.

Having picked nine wickets in the contest, across five matches, Bishnoi was rewarded with the Player of the Series trophy. Given the performance, the youngster did not just stake his claim as a contender for T20 Word Cup squad, but also earned a special praise from the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan.

Indian spinners performed well in the contest against Australia, picking up 15 wickets in the series at 19.20, with the performance of Bishnoi and Axar Patel being the most notable ones in the 4th and 5th T20I where they bowled in tandem to choke the visitors and change the momentum of the game.

Speaking to Jio Cinema ahead of the start of the final match of the series in Bengaluru, Muralitharan was full of praise for the Indian spin bowling line-up, but reserved his special words for Bishnoi.

“India have always had a good, uh, set of spin in every generation. You see from Anil (Kumble) to (Ravi) Ashwin to now the young guys who have come. Bishnoi is different from any other leg spinner than any other ones. He bowls quicker and he makes slides the ball a lot and Axar also is very accurate, not a big spinner of the ball and Washi also is similar because he doesn’t turn much and is very accurate and quite quicker,” Muralitharan said.

Bishnoi made his T20I debut last year in February following an impressive run in Indian Premier League. With the T20 World Cup around in Australia that year, Bishnoi stood among contenders before falling behind in the pecking order to Yuzvendra Chahal. However, with improved shows in the Ireland series in August, Asian Games and Australia contest, across which he picked 18 wickets in 10 games, Bishnoi once again stands in fray to make a World Cup team for the contest in West Indies and USA coming June.