Team India head coach Rahul Dravid praised skipper Rohit Sharma’s decision to select Ravi Bishnoi over Avesh Khan for the second Super Over of the third T20I against Afghanistan. The Indian captain opted to go with leg-spinner Bishnoi to defend the seemingly low total, which paid off for the team in Bangalore.
Team India scored 11 runs in the second one-over shootout, resulting in the first international game decided by a double Super Over. Ravi Bishnoi took two wickets in three balls to end Afghanistan’s resistance and guide India to a 10-run victory in a highly-contested game.
Speaking about Rohit Sharma’s decision to bowl Ravi Bishnoi in the crucial Super Over, Rahul Dravid stated that the Indian captain went with his gut call to bowl the leg-spinner and believes that the spinner does not have a large score to defend. He also stated that it was a great call from Rohit Sharma to trust the young spinner in a critical moment of the game.
“I think Rohit went with his gut, he went with a call… I think he felt that the spinner had a better chance to take those two wickets.
“It was one of the games when 11 wasn’t probably a huge score and where you know that if they batted those six balls, with the power they had, they probably would’ve got the 12 runs. You needed to take two wickets. I think it was a great call from the skipper to go with the spinner,” Rahul Dravid said.
Promising Indian spinner Ravi Bishnoi was entrusted to bowl the second Super Over for strategic reasons. The 23-year-old, who had previously experienced the pressure of a double Super Overs encounter, was chosen over Avesh Khan because Afghanistan’s batting lineup and field dimensions suited his bowling style.
I Think It Was Really Good Gut Call From Rohit Sharma – Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid commended Ravi Bishnoi for keeping his cool and bowling the exact length in the second Super Over to enable India to secure a memorable victory. The leggie demonstrated incredible endurance to outfox the Afghan batter in the Super Over.
“He could’ve gone for two sixes but I thought Bishnoi was brilliant because he bowled two superb balls. He pulled the length back… if the length had gone slightly fuller, the way they were batting, on this small ground it would’ve gone for a six.
“I think it was a really good gut call from Rohit to go for the wickets and be more positive rather than probably a safer option which people would’ve expected,” Rahul Dravid added.
Ravi Bishnoi’s heroics with the ball helped India clinch a 3-0 series sweep over Afghanistan, maintaining their unbeaten T20I record against their Asian foes. The Men in Blue will change their focus on Test cricket, with a five-match series against England beginning in Hyderabad on January 25.
