Guwahati: When Ravi Bishnoi came in to bowl the fifth over on Sunday, he was effectively stepping into Varun Chakravarthy’s shoes.
Because India now have this template of going to a spinner inside the Powerplay, Bishnoi was an obvious choice in the absence of the rested Chakravarthy or the injured Axar Patel since Kuldeep usually comes later when the field is spread out. This was a big step up for Bishnoi, especially since he had last featured in a T20I in February last year.
Facing him were Tim Seifert and Glenn Phillips, two of the cleanest hitters in T20 cricket. So Bishnoi started flat and short. Seifert cut him hard but couldn’t clear a diving Suryakumar Yadav at cover. Next ball was darted in again. Next ball, the same. Both were dots. The only time Seifert managed a run was when he pushed one towards long-off, but it was more a chance connection than a planned one. The second over too was finished in a flurry, and suddenly New Zealand had gone 12 balls from Bishnoi without a boundary, and only five singles to show for.
These were astounding returns in the context of the game and the conditions. The pitch was a belter. To deny Phillips and Seifert a boundary-hitting ball in such circumstances was praise worthy. And Bishnoi achieved it through a cocktail of tight lengths and high-speed variations, with the odd googly thrown in.
It was a massive jump from the last year’s IPL where Bishnoi took just nine wickets in 11 matches at an average of over 44. No wonder he was also not considered for the India team all this while. This was a sudden break for him, being drafted into the side after Washington Sundar was ruled out due to a side strain. And Bishnoi is making the most of this chance at redemption.
“Yes, it is difficult when you are away from the side, you feel like you should be there but you are not,” Bishnoi said after the match here on Sunday. “This Indian team is very strong and there are very few spots available so limited opportunities. It was good because I had time to work on myself, I did a lot of work on myself.”
Bulk of the work went on getting the lengths right. “I didn’t have much control over my lengths and lines last season. That’s why it was tough for me,” he said. “But I tried my best to bowl in the 5-6 metres length on the stumps as it is difficult to hit from those areas.” Not just the lengths, Bishnoi’s subtle variation of pace meant the batters were inevitably hurried into playing low, risky shots that they didn’t always have full control of.
Like the dismissal of Mark Chapman. He wanted to hit Bishnoi through cover but so straight was the delivery that he couldn’t position the bat properly, leading to a fine edge. More timely was the 16th-over dismissal of Phillips. Bishnoi bowled flat and quick (104kph) and Phillips -looking for a boundary off the first ball – pulled it but hardly found any elevation that could beat Ishan Kishan at deep midwicket.
This type of bowling isn’t without its share of risks. But Bishnoi clearly has worked out the issues. “Because of the pace that I have in bowling, if it (length) goes up and down, it becomes very easy for the batsman to go down and hit the ball. So, the effort was to throw it at a good length,” said Bishnoi. Two for 18 in four overs on his comeback, Bishnoi clearly isn’t giving up without a fight.