Harare, Jul 11 (PTI) Ravi Bishnoi’s fielding has always had a touch of athleticism but he took it to a different plane in the third T20I against Zimbabwe when he leapt to pluck 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 catch to dismiss the Zimbabwe top-order batter, reducing the hosts to 19 for 3 in the fourth over.
The pacer said he was left “shocked” for a moment.
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“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 from Bishnoi 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.
Washington Sundar said he had the best view of the catch as he was positioned at mid-on.
“It was a great opportunity for me to stand at mid-on and have a clear view of whatever happened throughout the catch… and throughout that particular ball. It (ball) went at rocket speed and Bishnoi… that rocket speed was there (he also displayed rocket speed),” said Sundar.
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.
Rinku Singh said this was not the first time Bishnoi has taken an outstanding catch.
“It was an outstanding catch, (but) it’s not that he has taken such a catch for the first time; he has taken several good catches in international cricket and IPL,” said Rinku.
