3 reasons why India shouldn't drop Ravi Bishnoi for the last 2 T20Is vs England

India have made their way to a 2-1 lead in the five-match series against England, but not all of their players have been at the top of their game. Ravi Bishnoi, who has been an integral part of the T20I side for a couple of years now, hasn't been at his accurate best.

Bishnoi went wicketless in the first two encounters in Kolkata and Chennai despite India's spinners succeeding on the whole. Then, in Rajkot, as the Men in Blue stumbled to a 26-run defeat, the leg-spinner had his worst outing of the series so far. He leaked 46 runs in his four overs, with his wicket of Harry Brook being scant consolation.

India are currently playing with just one specialist fast bowler, and there have been calls from certain quarters to include another. Bishnoi, as someone who doesn't offer much with the bat and hasn't been all too reliable so far in the series, might be on the chopping block.

India’s updated squad for the T20I series against England: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Axar Patel (vc), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Shivam Dube, Ramandeep Singh.

However, that isn't the path the home side should go down. On that note, here are three reasons why India shouldn't drop Ravi Bishnoi for the last two T20Is against England.

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#3 Pune promises to aid his style of bowling

International Series 1st T20: South Africa v India - Source: Getty

The pitch at the MCA Stadium has been spin-friendly in recent times. The Ranji Trophy encounters at the venue have been dominated by the slower bowlers, and the trend continued in India vs New Zealand Test at the same venue, where Mitchell Santner.

Even in T20Is, Pune has aided the spinners more. In the last international game played at this venue, Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal, who were the hosts' spin pair, had a much better economy rate than Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Mavi and Umran Malik, all of whom went at more than 12 runs per over.

Bishnoi could prove extremely useful in Pune, where he is expected to welcome the conditions.

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#2 England have been all at sea against spin on the whole

India v England - 3rd T20I - Source: Getty

It isn't just the conditions that favor India playing Ravi Bishnoi. The opposition does as well, despite their win in the previous T20I in Rajkot.

England, on the whole, have been all at sea against spin. Barring captain Jos Buttler, and to a certain extent Liam Livingstone, the visitors' batters have struggled to read the Indian tweakers from the hand. Harry Brook, Jamie Overton and Jamie Smith, in particular, have been dismissed rather easily.

With that in mind, India need to ensure that they don't dilute their spin-bowling resources for the all-important clash. Even if Bishnoi hasn't been at his best, he's the only other specialist spinner in the squad apart from the in-form Varun Chakaravarthy. And having him in the side will certainly increase the hosts' chances of winning.

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#1 Ravi Bishnoi is too good a bowler to be out of form for long

India v England - 2nd T20I - Source: Getty

At only 24 years old, Ravi Bishnoi is one of India's best T20 spinners. He was retained by the Lucknow Super Giants ahead of the 2025 Indian Premier League season and has been an integral part of the T20I side for a while now.

Bishnoi's presence in the team offers India the flexibility to use Chakaravarthy at the death. He can bowl across phases, and while his length consistency has let him down in recent times, he needs to be backed to get through this phase. The youngster's ceiling is immense, and giving him a sustained run of games will eventually reap rich rewards for the Men in Blue.