India’s Ravi Bishnoi (C) is celebrates with teammates after a dismissal during the third T20 international cricket match between Zimbabwe and India at Harare Sports Club in Harare on July 10, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

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.

“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.

Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad produced high-quality knocks before the bowlers did their part as India outplayed Zimbabwe by 23 runs in the third T20 here on July 10.

Gill (66 off 49), Yashasvi Jaiswal (36 off 27) and Gaikwad (49 off 28) propelled India to 182 for four against Zimbabwe after the visitors opted to bat on a fresh pitch.

Zimbabwe were never really in the run chase despite an entertaining effort from number four Dion Myers (65 not out 49), ending at 159 for six in their stipulated 20 overs.

Washington Sundar, who is likely to play a bigger role in India’s T20 set-up after the retirement of Ravindra Jadeja, struck thrice while Avesh Khan took a couple of wickets.

The fourth T20 of the five-match series will be staged here on Saturday, July 13. After a loss in the series opener, India have restored normal service with back-to-back victories.

After Avesh Khan bounced out opener Wessly Madhevere in the second over, the wickets kept falling for the home team. However, Zimbabwe did well to stead the ship after losing their first five wickets for 39 runs. The 77-run stand off 57 balls between Myers and Clive Madande (37 off 26) put much needed life into the game.

Earlier, Gill-led India made some interesting selection calls. They duly inducted World Cup winners Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (12 not out off 7) and Shivam Dube into the playing eleven, leaving out the likes of Riyan Parag in the middle order.

Sanju came to bat at number five with four specialist openers Jaiswal, Gill, Abhishek Sharma (10 off 9) and Gaikwad occupying the top four positions respectively.

Jaiswal, who did not get a game in India’s triumphant campaign in the T20 World Cup, was happy to be back in the middle and went for his shots from the get go.

The southpaw collected couple of fours and a six over deep-midwicket in the opening over bowled by off-spinner Brian Bennett to set the tone.

Gill began with a gorgeous on drive off left-arm pacer Richard Ngarava before pulling him for a six over fine-leg.

Zimbabwe were poor in the field to say the least, conceding extra runs and grassing regulation catches throughout the innings. Pacer Blessing Muzarabani (2/25) once again got the extra bounce from length and was the pick of the bowlers.

After racing to 49 for no loss in four overs, India could not maintain that tempo reaching 55 in the powerplay with both openers in the centre.

Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza, who impressed again with the ball, got the breakthrough for his team as Jaiswal’s reverse sweep went straight into the hands of the fielder at backward point. Last game’s centurion Abhishek did not last long and was holed out in the deep off Raza.

Gaikwad, finding himself at an unusual batting position, was able to milk the spinners in the middle overs and ended with four boundaries and three sixes.

Scoreboard

INDIA: Yashasvi Jaiswal c Bennett b Raza 36 Shubman Gill c Raza b Muzarabani 66 Abhishek Sharma c Marumani b Raza 10 Ruturaj Gaikwad c Madhevere b Muzarabani 49 Sanju Samson (not out) 12 Rinku Singh (not out) 1

Extras: (B-4, LB-1, NB-1, W-2) 8

Total: (For 4 wickets, 20 overs) 182

Fall of wickets: 1-67, 2-81, 3-153, 4-177.

Bowling: Brian Bennett 1-0-15-0, Richard Ngarava 4-0-39-0, Tendai Chatara 3-0-30-0, Blessing Muzarabani 4-0-25-2, Sikandar Raza 4-0-24-2, Wellington Masakadza 3-0-25-0, Wessly Madhevere 1-0-19-0.

ZIMBABWE: Wessly Madhevere c Abhishek b Avesh 1 Tadiwanashe Marumani c Dube b Ahmed 13 Brian Bennett c Bishnoi b Avesh 4 Dion Myers (not out) 65 Sikandar Raza c Rinku b Sundar 15 Jonathan Campbell c sub (Parag) b Sundar 1 Clive Madande c Rinku b Sundar 37 Wellington Masakadza (not out) 18

Extras: (B-1, LB-2, W-2) 5

Total: (six wickets, 20 overs) 159

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-19, 3-19, 4-47, 5-39, 6-116.

Bowling: Khaleel Ahmed 4-0-15-1, Avesh Khan 4-0-39-2, Ravi Bishnoi 4-0-37-0, Washington Sundar 4-0-15-3, Abhishek Sharma 2-0-23-0, Shivam Dube 2-0-27-0.