‘What was the bowling coach doing?’: Maninder Singh on Ravi Bishnoi’s flaw
Maninder Singh questioned India's bowling coaches after Ravi Bishnoi's three no balls against England, saying the leg-spinner's run up should have been corrected.
The last time Ravi Bishnoi played a T20I for India, he returned with figures of 0/60 in four overs as Shreyas Iyer’s side lost to England by four wickets in Manchester. Alongside the expensive spell, another concern emerged.
A fast bowler overstepping is often dismissed as an occupational hazard. For a spinner, it is far rarer – and far harder to explain. Yet Bishnoi was called for three no balls after his back foot repeatedly cut the return crease, handing England three free hits that yielded 14 runs and helped swing the match.
Bishnoi is one of two spin options India have for the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe starting on Thursday, and former India spinner Maninder Singh felt that the leg-spinner’s biggest issue was a flawed run up that should have been corrected by the coaching staff.
“He has to do a lot of work on his run up because you normally run straight to the stumps. He goes left, right, then left, then tries to come back to the crease, and that is where he is going wrong,” Maninder told The Indian Express.
“When he bowled those no balls, I was just wondering what was the bowling coach doing with Ravi Bishnoi. Because obviously he was bowling in the nets also in the same way. Why wasn’t he stopped? That should be the first job of a bowling coach. So I really don’t understand why he wasn’t being corrected when he was bowling in the nets that way. Because these days in white-ball cricket, bowling a no-ball is a crime,” he added.
The 61-year-old felt that Kuldeep Yadav’s lack of game time was more to do with the management’s lack of faith in him than a diminishing skill set.
“Sometimes your wicket-taking ability can go down if the team management is not showing confidence. I think he still has it in him. It’s just that if you keep him on the bench all the time and don’t give him chances to play, you don’t give him confidence.”
“There are some cricketers you need to keep talking to all the time. If you are not only keeping him out of the scheme of things but not even thinking of playing him in the first eleven, then these kinds of problems are going to come.”
“Because a bowler of his calibre, who was getting you wickets in the middle overs, suddenly starts going down, there has to be a reason for it. And the reason, I feel, is that he is not getting enough confidence from the team management.”
“That is the only problem. Everything else is the same. He used to bowl a little slower through the air a couple of years ago, but he has worked hard on it. Good follow-through. Using his shoulder well.”
“Using his body well. The only problem at the minute is that he needs confidence. If you keep taking his confidence away, then you start talking about release position, ball drift and everything else, which is secondary. If you give that man the confidence a cricketer requires, you will see him back among the wickets,” Maninder said.
The former India spinner also said India’s increasing preference for all-rounders has come at the expense of genuine match-winners, saying Kuldeep has also paid the price for the team wanting more batting depth.
“I am getting a little surprised with the way the teams are being selected. We are trying to have that cushion where we are extending our batting till number eight.”
“We are playing too many all-rounders. In white-ball cricket, all-rounders play a very important role. But at the cost of a match-winner, you cannot keep playing all-rounders just because you think they are going to give you performances. I would rather have a bowler who gets you wickets in the middle overs and keeps you in the game.”
“Or I would rather have a batter who can win you games. The definition of an all-rounder in India has changed. Now it means someone who can do a bit of batting, a bit of bowling and a bit of fielding.”
“Whereas my understanding of an all-rounder was Kapil Dev, Manoj Prabhakar, Madan Lal and Roger Binny – players who could win you games on their own with either the bat or the ball,” Maninder said.
Maninder felt that Manav Suthar had the technical attributes to enjoy a long international career, saying the youngster looks “like a bowler for the future” after an impressive India Test debut against Afghanistan.
“Very impressive. He has got a beautiful run up, lovely action, nice follow-through. And the best thing is, when the ball comes out of the hand of a spinner, the seam position tells you how hard he has worked.”
“He looks to me like a bowler for the future. To be very honest, I was expecting him to be in some team or the other, whether it’s T20 cricket or One-Day International cricket. I don’t think he will have to wait for too long because he is a good bowler, technically very sound, and I think mentally he is ready for international cricket,” he said.
India vs Zimbabwe T20I series will be streamed on FanCode.
Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.
The last time Ravi Bishnoi played a T20I for India, he returned with figures of 0/60 in four overs as Shreyas Iyer’s side lost to England by four wickets in Manchester. Alongside the expensive spell, another concern emerged.
A fast bowler overstepping is often dismissed as an occupational hazard. For a spinner, it is far rarer – and far harder to explain. Yet Bishnoi was called for three no balls after his back foot repeatedly cut the return crease, handing England three free hits that yielded 14 runs and helped swing the match.
Bishnoi is one of two spin options India have for the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe starting on Thursday, and former India spinner Maninder Singh felt that the leg-spinner’s biggest issue was a flawed run up that should have been corrected by the coaching staff.
“He has to do a lot of work on his run up because you normally run straight to the stumps. He goes left, right, then left, then tries to come back to the crease, and that is where he is going wrong,” Maninder told The Indian Express.
“When he bowled those no balls, I was just wondering what was the bowling coach doing with Ravi Bishnoi. Because obviously he was bowling in the nets also in the same way. Why wasn’t he stopped? That should be the first job of a bowling coach. So I really don’t understand why he wasn’t being corrected when he was bowling in the nets that way. Because these days in white-ball cricket, bowling a no-ball is a crime,” he added.
The 61-year-old felt that Kuldeep Yadav’s lack of game time was more to do with the management’s lack of faith in him than a diminishing skill set.
“Sometimes your wicket-taking ability can go down if the team management is not showing confidence. I think he still has it in him. It’s just that if you keep him on the bench all the time and don’t give him chances to play, you don’t give him confidence.”
“There are some cricketers you need to keep talking to all the time. If you are not only keeping him out of the scheme of things but not even thinking of playing him in the first eleven, then these kinds of problems are going to come.”
“Because a bowler of his calibre, who was getting you wickets in the middle overs, suddenly starts going down, there has to be a reason for it. And the reason, I feel, is that he is not getting enough confidence from the team management.”
“That is the only problem. Everything else is the same. He used to bowl a little slower through the air a couple of years ago, but he has worked hard on it. Good follow-through. Using his shoulder well.”
“Using his body well. The only problem at the minute is that he needs confidence. If you keep taking his confidence away, then you start talking about release position, ball drift and everything else, which is secondary. If you give that man the confidence a cricketer requires, you will see him back among the wickets,” Maninder said.
The former India spinner also said India’s increasing preference for all-rounders has come at the expense of genuine match-winners, saying Kuldeep has also paid the price for the team wanting more batting depth.
“I am getting a little surprised with the way the teams are being selected. We are trying to have that cushion where we are extending our batting till number eight.”
“We are playing too many all-rounders. In white-ball cricket, all-rounders play a very important role. But at the cost of a match-winner, you cannot keep playing all-rounders just because you think they are going to give you performances. I would rather have a bowler who gets you wickets in the middle overs and keeps you in the game.”
“Or I would rather have a batter who can win you games. The definition of an all-rounder in India has changed. Now it means someone who can do a bit of batting, a bit of bowling and a bit of fielding.”
“Whereas my understanding of an all-rounder was Kapil Dev, Manoj Prabhakar, Madan Lal and Roger Binny – players who could win you games on their own with either the bat or the ball,” Maninder said.
Maninder felt that Manav Suthar had the technical attributes to enjoy a long international career, saying the youngster looks “like a bowler for the future” after an impressive India Test debut against Afghanistan.
“Very impressive. He has got a beautiful run up, lovely action, nice follow-through. And the best thing is, when the ball comes out of the hand of a spinner, the seam position tells you how hard he has worked.”
“He looks to me like a bowler for the future. To be very honest, I was expecting him to be in some team or the other, whether it’s T20 cricket or One-Day International cricket. I don’t think he will have to wait for too long because he is a good bowler, technically very sound, and I think mentally he is ready for international cricket,” he said.
India vs Zimbabwe T20I series will be streamed on FanCode.
