Indian leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi has revealed that skipper Suryakumar Yadav and vice-captain Shubman Gill have backed him to the hilt in the ongoing three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. 

Bishnoi returned with impressive figures of 3-26 in his quota of four overs to help India restrict Sri Lanka to 161-9 after Suryakumar Yadav decided to field first in the second T20I on Sunday. The leg-spinner accounted for Pathum Nissanka and dismissed Dasun Shanaka and Wanindu Hasaranga on consecutive deliveries while bowling the 17th over.

The leg-spinner showered praise on Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy and feels the new leader is doing a fine job.

“Suryakumar is doing great captaincy. I have played under him during the Australia series as well. He has been good. Shubman Gill’s captaincy was also great. In Zimbabwe, we also did great as a captain. They always back me and as a bowler you cannot ask for anything more than this when the captain backs you. Suryakumar and Shubman have both backed me,” Bishnoi said in the post-match press conference.

Meanwhile, Bishnoi also played under the mentorship of Gautam Gambhir for Lucknow Super Giants for two seasons. The youngster revealed he shares a great bond with the current Indian head coach.

“I am sharing a great bond with Gautam Gambhir as he has been with LSG for two years. He has not asked me to change anything as such. He has told me to do what I am doing currently. His advice was useful to me earlier as well, and now too.”

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has collapsed drastically in the middle overs in both the games and Bishnoi shared his surprise as the opposition batters are known to be good players against spin.

“They play spin really well, but I don’t know what has happened to them. They collapsed between the middle overs, and they were known as a good spin-playing team, but I think something has gone wrong,” Bishnoi said.

The third and final T20I of the series will be played at the Pallekele on Tuesday.