Ravichandran Ashwin has urged cricket fans to recognise Ravi Bishnoi\u2019s turnaround, praising the Rajasthan Royals (RR) leg-spinner after the bowler\u2019s early impact in IPL 2026. Bishnoi currently sits atop the Purple Cap standings, having taken five wickets across his first two matches, and Ashwin believes the spotlight should now firmly be on the Rajasthan spinner rather than past criticism.<\/p>\n
Ashwin\u2019s comments came soon after Bishnoi delivered a match-winning spell of 4\/41 against Gujarat Titans (GT). The performance helped him earn the Player of the Match award, and the veteran India campaigner used that momentum to highlight how quickly opinions can change once a player finds rhythm.<\/p>\n
In his discussion on YouTube, Ashwin also took aim at how Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) managed Bishnoi during the previous season. He argued that Bishnoi should have commanded a far bigger price in the 2026 auction, claiming he expected the leg-spinner to be bought for well over Rs 10 crore.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is time to give him credit. He has the Purple cap now, the cap looks good on his head because he had a challenging season with LSG last year. He was not even traded after that, he was just put back into the auction pool. I was so sure that he would go for 10-12 crores, and that did not happen,\u201d Ashwin said.<\/p>\n
Ashwin further suggested that LSG\u2019s handling contributed to Bishnoi\u2019s dip in valuation, pointing to the way other franchises appeared to assess the leg-spinner. He also criticised Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for choosing to sign Rahul Chahar for Rs 5.2 crore instead of pushing harder for Bishnoi, who was available for Rs 5.8 crore at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cCSK pulled out at 7 [5.8] crores, because they were saying that there is not much difference between Ravi Bishnoi and Rahul Chahar. The way LSG handled him, that is why Ravi Bishnoi’s stock value dipped. I am eagerly waiting to see Ravi Bishnoi’s comeback as Ravi Bishnoi 2.0,\u201d Ashwin added.<\/p>\n
RR ultimately benefited from that auction hesitation, securing Bishnoi\u2014the current Purple Cap holder\u2014for Rs 7.2 crore, a deal Ashwin feels is already paying off with Bishnoi\u2019s early wicket haul.<\/p>\n
After his big outing against GT, Bishnoi addressed his own development process. He acknowledged that last season had been tough, explaining that his effectiveness depends heavily on hitting his preferred length.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a difficult season last year. When I miss my length, I get hit. I was trying to work on my lengths, and if anyone hits off those, then no problem. Mental, technical and physical (effort) all together. Had to bowl a lot of balls (to keep improving),\u201d Bishnoi said following the match.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ravichandran Ashwin has urged cricket fans to recognise Ravi Bishnoi\u2019s turnaround, praising the Rajasthan Royals (RR) leg-spinner after the bowler\u2019s early impact in IPL 2026.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"IPL 2026: Ashwin Praises Bishnoi as RR Purple Cap Leader","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Ashwin lauds RR spinner Ravi Bishnoi as IPL 2026 Purple Cap leader, praising his turnaround and urging fans to back the leg-spinner\u2019s rise.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n