Young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi gets maiden call-up for Windies series, Kuldeep Yadav makes comeback

By PTI

NEW DELHI: Young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi was on Wednesday rewarded with a maiden India call-up for the upcoming Twenty20 series against the West Indies while senior wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav also returned to the white-ball setup after a knee surgery.

“Kuldeep Yadav is making a comeback and Ravi Bishnoi is the new face in the team for West Indies series. The team will be led by Rohit Sharma,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

Bishnoi has been one of the finds of the Indian Premier League for the Punjab outfit and has been picked up by new franchise Lucknow Supergiants from the drafts for the next IPL.

It is learnt that pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been dropped from the ODI squad but retained for the T20Is while former skipper Virat Kohli is expected to feature in both squads.

It is understood that Kuldeep, who had lost his mojo in the Kohli-Ravi Shastri era, has been called back as the current team management and selectors feel that he has the X-factor to contribute to the team’s cause.

He underwent a knee surgery in September last year.

The six-match series against the West Indies will feature three T20 Internationals starting in Ahmedabad from February 6 and followed by as many ODIs in Kolkata.

Due to COVID-19 protocols, the BCCI has curtailed the number of venues from six cities to two.