'Sunil Gavaskar must have seen something in me' - Ravi Bishnoi shares his thoughts on missing T20 WC squad

Young Indian leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi had to settle for the reserves when the management announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming 2022 T20 World Cup on September 12. As expected, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Axar Patel made the list, the latter came in place of injured Ravindra Jadeja. It must have been hard for the 22-year-old spinner, who has been excellent for India since making his T20I debut earlier this year.

The former Indian great Sunil Gavaskar was quick to react to Bishnoi's snub for the mega tournament and stated that player should not worry about it as he got age on his side. He also advised Bishnoi to perform better and consistently to be part of India's squad for the next World Cup tournaments.

"Well, he has got age on his side. There is another T20 World Cup in a couple of year's time. There are so many T20 World Cups that he can play in the future. He should now perform in such a way that he becomes undroppable. So that's the only way to look at it. He is a young man, it's a good experience for him to know he can't get into every team," Sunil Gavaskar stated on September 12.

Now Bishnoi has also backed himself to perform better and revealed that backing from someone like Gavaskar boosts his confidence.

“If he(Sunil Gavaskar) is backing me, then he must have seen something in me. And you get a lot of confidence from such greats who have ruled the world of cricket. It becomes meaningful,” Bishnoi told Sports Tak on Thursday.

I want to pick Ravichandran Ashwin's brains: Ravi Bishnoi

Bishnoi has faced a lot of competition to find a regular spot in the current Indian T20 team. But despite that, he has taken 16 wickets in just 10 matches at an impressive economy rate of 7.08 so far. Notably, he has taken wickets in every single T20I match he played since the conclusion of the Indian Premier League 2022 in May.

He revealed that both Ashwin and Chahal have been very supportive of him and have helped him improve his game a lot so far. He also praised Ashwin's capability to learn and experiment with things while bowling and wished to pick his brains.

“Both are great spinners; Ashwin is different and Yuzi(Chahal) is different. I have spoken to Chahal a lot and he keeps telling me ‘you can improve here a lot.’ Meanwhile, Ashwin bhaiya has a different class. How he has this brain and how he keeps experimenting. I thought how can someone learn so quickly. I want to pick his brains," Bishnoi added.