Catch your breath: Ravi Bishnoi’s effort leaves India teammates stunned in T20I against Zimbabwe

Harare, July 11

Ravi Bishnoi’s fielding has always had a touch of athleticism but he took it to a different level in the third T20I against Zimbabwe when he leapt to catch a screamer off Avesh Khan to dismiss Brian Bennett, leaving his India teammate in awe.

India defeated Zimbabwe by 23 runs on Wednesday to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series but the talk in the dressing room was Bishnoi’s astonishing effort.

The pacer said he was left “shocked” for a moment.

“When he took the catch, I don’t think he got the reaction time. I also did not get the reaction time (to see what happened). I was, in fact, shocked how he took that catch,” said Avesh, who took two wickets as India restricted Zimbabwe to 159/6 in the chase of 182.

Avesh added that the wicket should be credited to Bishnoi’s account for the sheer effort.

“He is a good fielder, works a lot on his fielding. The catch that he took, the scoreboard will show that it was taken by me, but it should be credited in his (Bishnoi’s) account,” added Avesh in a video posted by BCCI.

India skipper Shubman Gill said it was a truly amazing effort and showed that the leg-spinner was enjoying his fielding.

“Very happy with the team’s win to go 2-1 up in the series and the catch that Bishi (Bishnoi) took was absolutely remarkable. It was truly delightful to watch. Cricket is definitely a team sport and it’s more so a team sport when you’re fielding. So, it’s very important to have fun when you are fielding. If you are having fun then you are always in the game,” added the captain.

Bishnoi himself was humble about the catch, saying he had been doing more fielding drills.

“Yes, it felt good. We were talking about fielding for the last 2-3 days, how to improve my fielding even more. It’s a new normal for me to take the catch off Avesh’s bowling. As long as we don’t make that effort to take the catch we won’t know if it is near or far. So, I push myself to be as close to the catch as possible,” added Bishnoi. — PTI

India to play three ODIs, T20Is against SL

New Delhi: India will play three T20 Internationals and as many ODIs during their tour to Sri Lanka across July and August, the BCCI announced today. The matches will be played at Pallekele and Colombo. The white-ball tour will kick off with the T20Is (July 26, 27, 29) at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium and the series will then move to Colombo where the one-dayers (August 1, 4, 7) will be played at the R Premadasa International Stadium. India will be manned by newly-appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir, while the Lankans will also have a new coach in Sanath Jayasuriya.