Ravi Bishnoi

Ravi Bishnoi is a modern-day legspinner who likes to trouble batters with his fast legbreaks, sliders and googlies instead of deceiving them with flight, drift and dip.

Pursuing cricket was not easy for Bishnoi. His father, a headmaster at a government school, did not like the idea. But his mother loved the sport and would watch cricket with him on television while his father was at school. After a couple of heartbreaks at the age-group level, Bishnoi made his T20 debut for Rajasthan in the 2018-19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he picked up four wickets in as many matches at an economy of 6.07.

At the start of 2020, Bishnoi went to South Africa for the Under-19 World Cup where he finished as the leading wicket-taker and helped India reach the final. But even before that, he was picked by Kings XI Punjab for INR 2 crore at the IPL auction. The success in the IPL led to a T20I debut in 2022. In the same year, he made his ODI debut as well. However, the presence of Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, and his own lack of ability with bat, meant he was not a first-choice pick and the opportunities were scattered.

Ravi Bishnoi IPL factfile

- Ravi Bishnoi was bought by Punjab Kings (PBKS) for INR 2 crore in the IPL 2020 auction and later finished as the highest wicket-taker in the Under-19 World Cup.

- A legspinner who is generous with dishing out googlies, Bishnoi picked up 12 wickets in each of his first two seasons in the IPL, standing out despite PBKS' struggles.

- His performances led to a T20I debut for India in February 2022. That year, new franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) signed him for INR 4 crore as one of their pre-auction picks along with his KL Rahul.

- Bishnoi took 13 wickets in his first season for LSG, playing a big part as they made the playoffs.

- In his second season with LSG, when the IPL went back to the home-away format, Bishnoi became a key player on the spin-friendly surfaces in Lucknow - he picked up 16 wickets as LSG made it to the playoffs again.