ENG vs IND 2026: ‘Ravi Bishnoi handed the match to England’ – Kris Srikkanth blasts India spinner after costly spell

Ravi Bishnoi (Photo by Stuart Leggett/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Former India batter Kris Srikkanth criticised the team management for selecting spinner Ravi Bishnoi in the playing XI for the second T20I against England on Saturday. Bishnoi endured a forgettable outing, conceding 60 runs in his four overs, including a costly 17th over that went for 29 runs.

The expensive spell proved decisive as England chased down the target to secure a four-wicket victory. Reacting to the performance, Srikkanth described Bishnoi’s over as terrible and questioned the decision to pick him, noting that the leg-spinner had not even featured in all of Rajasthan Royals’ matches during IPL 2026. The former India opener argued that Kuldeep Yadav should have been included in the XI, suggesting the experienced left-arm wrist-spinner would have been a better choice for the crucial encounter.

“It was a terrible over from Bishnoi. Giving him that over was also a wrong move by Shreyas Iyer. Bethell tore Bishnoi into pieces. That over finished the match off. Bishnoi handed over the match to England. Bishnoi didn’t even play half the IPL for RR but got a place in this side, which is hard to understand,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.

“It wasn’t wrong to drop Kuldeep Yadav from the 11. Kuldeep hasn’t bowled that great for a while now. But he should have been in the squad ahead of Bishnoi. Nobody knows where Bishnoi suddenly came from. Just picking him off overall stats is of no use. One should never trust overall stats. Only recent numbers should matter,” he added.

Srikkanth further argued that India did not need to field two spinners in the playing XI. He believed the team would have been better served by including pacer Prince Yadav.

“What is the need of playing two wrist spinners in Bishnoi and Varun Chakaravarthy in English conditions? Instead, Prince Yadav should have played as he has done well. You should have played only two spinners in Varun and Axar. Why are you playing three spinners in England? Bishnoi is good only on Indian wickets,” Srikkanth said.

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