Who is Ravi Bishnoi, 21-year-old called up for Team India's squad against West Indies?
Ravi Bishnoi has come a long way, from working at a cricket ground to earning his place in the Indian squad his journey has been truly inspirational.
Ravi Bishnoi's story seems like a typical Bollywood style rags to riches story. At one point in time, the youngster had to work at a cricket ground, and now he will be rubbing shoulders against the likes of Virat Kohli. On Wednesday, Bishnoi was named in Team India's squad for the upcoming series against West Indies. But who is Ravi Bishnoi, and how did he end up finding a place in the team, when players such as Hardik Pandya or Ravichandran Ashwin failed to make the cut? Here we take a look at Ravi Bishnoi's cricketing journey so far:
Ravi Bishnoi began his cricketing journey in Jodhpur, although because of a lack of proper facilities, Bishnoi, along with his friends and the help of two coaches, built a cricket academy called 'Spartans Cricket Academy' where they themselves had to work as 'labourers' owing to financial issues.
Bishnoi nearly gave up on cricket, he was rejected in Rajasthan's U19 circuit trials, and the youngster broke down following the disappointment. His father, a school headmaster wanted Bishnoi to focus on his studies instead. However, with further help from his coaches, he got another chance and was able to do well at the second time of asking.
The 21-year-old broke through after picking up five wickets in his first Vinoo Mankad Trophy match. Initially, he wanted to become a medium pacer, but on his coaches' advice, Bishnoi switched to leg-spin and hasn't looked back since.
The Jodhpur born lad represented India in the U-19 World Cup 2020, while the Indian colts finished as runners-up, Bishnoi picked up 17 wickets along the way, more than any other player at the tournament.
Ravi Bishnoi was subsequently picked up by Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in December 2019, he picked up 12 wickets in his debut Indian Premier League (IPL) season and was rewarded with the Emerging Player Award.
The past few days have been very eventful for Bishnoi, a couple of days ago, he was picked by Lucknow Super Giants' as one of their top three picks, ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction for a paycheck of INR 4 crores, and on Wednesday Ravi Bishnoi was named in Team India's squad for the upcoming ODI and T20I series at home versus West Indies.