A Journey of epic proportions, Bishnoi’s rise a reward for his perseverance

The 2020 World Cup had an interesting storyline. While there had been many superstars from the U19 set-ups in the past, including India’s new blue-eyed boy Rishabh Pant, the 2020 edition provided a diverse set of narratives. From the feel-good story of Yashasvi Jaiswal making strides to Kartik Tyagi forcing the IPL bidders to the limit, the class of 2020 were in some demand. 

While there had been no doubt about the fact that Ravi Bishnoi has taken the biggest leap among the lot - in terms of his performances in the IPL - the validation has come in the form of a national selection, with the Rajasthan leggie being picked in the national squad for the Windies series next month. 

It was an eventuality, waiting to be explored, especially after the downfall of India’s existing spin ecosystem at the top level. Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, and to an extent, Ravichandran Ashwin have become a shadow of their former selves, hence Bishnoi’s induction into the top set-up couldn’t have come at a more opportune time.

Despite the cluttered selection policies at Punjab Kings, which came under severe criticism in the past, the world has surely seen a lot of Bishnoi already and has a hang of what he can do as a bowler. Surely, he is still a greenhorn and needs a lot of polishing but therein lies the opportunity to make it work and avoid another Kuldeep dilemma. 

While it was understandable that Kuldeep had a sudden slip in the form in the 2019 IPL, which he admitted had played a big role in his downfall, the treatment he received during the 2019 World Cup didn’t cut to the framework either. He had been backed as the primary spinner in the years leading up to the World Cup but was dropped from the team mid-way in the tournament and then carried on with a scar from which he couldn’t recover to date. If he was talented enough to sustain the momentum is beside the question because his management was too fragile in the first place. 

Luckily for India, they are in the midst of a golden edge, where the talents just don’t stop coming through. The Indian Premier League has become the best feeder system there has ever been in the history of the sport and it has allowed the selectors to get away with a lot of questionable selections, or in fact, exclusions in the past. Because the bench is so strong, a lot has flown under the radar. If players like Ruturaj Gaikwad or Hardik Pandya don’t make it to the XI, you can only judge it for yourself.

After plying his trade in the IPL for the last couple of years, Bishnoi is no more naive to the workings of Indian cricket. He must know that the “one truly lives by the sword and dies by the sword” thing is a prevalent narrative in Indian cricket and a misstep would be a massive downturn in his career. But from the understanding of an untrained eye, it can be assumed that a future, worth its weight in gold, is awaiting the youngster. 

As Aakash explored in this profile, unlike other aspiring cricketers, Bishnoi didn’t have the luxury of climbing through the ranks of school level. The lack of recognition for cricketing culture potentially could have ended his career before he pursued it but the drive and determination in him never gave up.  

Taking the onus upon himself, Bishnoi with a bunch of his friends helped build a cricket academy in the neighborhood, taking up a bulk of the muscle work needed for the setup.

“There isn’t a big sports or cricket culture here (West Rajasthan). It is just the passion and dedication of building an academy ourselves that has helped me reach this stage,” starts off Bishnoi in an exclusive interview with KXIP.in.

Being the son of a school headmaster, Bishnoi’s dreams of becoming a cricketer had several roadblocks, including his board exam in front of him. It all started in 2014 when Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) were banned by BCCI, where he had one session to prove his worth when he was still U-16. Up until 2019, the leg-spinner’s struggling tale with age-group cricket was frustrating. But Bishnoi’s perseverance, something that he had built up during his youth, stopped him from quitting and now he stands at the cusp of achieving a dream many kids in India can only fantasize about. 

It is surely a moment he would cherish, but as the Head Coach of Indian cricket had once told him: The Journey has just begun.