Harbhajan Singh opines whether Ravi Bishnoi should replace Yuzvendra Chahal in the senior team

India’s Under-19 team had a heartbreak in South Africa’s Potchefstroom last Sunday when they lost a hard-fought final to their Bangladesh counterpart in the U19 World Cup. Playing in their seventh final in the tournament which they won in 2018, the Indian colts had a batting disaster that made it easier for Bangladesh, playing in their first-ever World Cup in any form, to win it by three wickets by DLS Method eventually.

However, one man helped the supporters to go on dreaming about the trophy in the game and it was leg-break bowler Ravi Bishnoi. Just when the Bangladesh openers seemed to be running away with the game, Bishnoi applied serious brakes and ran through the Tigers’ top order to finish with 4 for 30 in his 10 overs. It was the youngster’s third four-wicket haul in the tournament and he finished as the top hunter of the tournament with 17 scalps and averaged less than 11.

Though India lost the final, the eyes are now on players like Bishnoi and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored 400 runs to end up as the highest run-maker and the man of the series. Just like the 2018 edition had produced the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill who went on to make it to the national side subsequently, it is now being asked how fast will the Bishnois and Jaiswals follow suit.

Turbanator advises Ravi Bishnoi to hone skills first

According to many quarters, Bishnoi should be fast-tracked to the national team where he could replace wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal soon. However, senior spinner Harbhajan Singh thinks otherwise.

The 39-year-old off-spinner, who is India’s second-highest wicket-taking spinner in Tests after the legendary Anil Kumble, feels Bishnoi should hone his skills more before he is picked for the senior team. The Turbanator praised Bishnoi for his show at the World Cup but advised that he should bowl more leg-spinners than googlies.

“Don’t compare Bishnoi with anyone. I would like to see him grow as time goes by. He has done well and now he needs to think how to take a step further that includes how he will perform in the IPL and at the Ranji Trophy level. If he performs consistently there, he will surely be considered.

But I would like to see him bowl more leg-spin rather than the googlies,” the 39-year-old was quoted as saying by the Times of India. He said this when asked by the daily whether Bishnoi would replace Chahal soon.

Meanwhile, Chahal, who returned to the ODI side after six months, picked three wickets for 58 runs against New Zealand in Auckland recently. India lost the match by 22 runs to squander the series.

On Bishnoi, Harbhajan also said that there are not many spinners other than Amit Mishra who possess a good combination of both leg-spin and googly. “Bishnoi should become a leg-spinner who will fox a batsman with his googlies. You shouldn’t be just another bowler who is bowling googlies because your leg-spin is not good enough,” he said.

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