Can Ravi Bishnoi replace Yuzvendra Chahal in Team India? Harbhajan Singh gives clear answer

Ravi Bishnoi was easily the top performer for India in the recently concluded ICC U19 World Cup as the leg-spinner ended the tournament as the highest wicket-taker. The youngster troubled the batsmen with his consistent line and length and was able to claim 17 wickets as India finished the tournament as runners-up. Bishnoi claimed four wickets in the summit clash as India were looking to stage a brilliant comeback but ultimately, they were defeated by Bangladesh. Senior India spinner Harbhajan Singh was asked whether Bishnoi can replace wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal in the senior team and Harbhajan had a clear answer to the query.

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“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,” Harbhajan told Times of India.

With 17 wickets in the tournament, Bishnoi surpassed the previous record of 15 wickets jointly shared by Shalabh Srivastava (2000), Abhishek Sharma (2002), Kuldeep Yadav (2014) and Anukul Roy (2018) to become the highest Indian wicket-taking bowler in a single U19 World Cup.

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Harbhajan praised his performance in the U19 World Cup and said that he has added to the pool of leg-spinners that India can boast of at the moment.

“It’s nice to see what he did during the Under-19 World Cup. Obviously, it would have been better to see the boys bring back the Cup. Talking about leg-spinners, it is great to have a good pool of leggies. Yuzvendra Chahal is there and now we have Bishnoi and Rahul Chahar as well. Also, let’s not forget Amit Mishra who is not considered anymore, but I feel he has still got a lot of cricket left and is the most mature leg-spinner at the moment and can still serve the nation,” he said.