NEW DELHI: “Apne ghar walon ke saamne khelne ka maza kuch aur hi hoga (Playing in front of my family members will be a completely different feeling)” — Indian spinner Ravi Bishnoi is relishing the prospect of playing in front of his home crowd in the next IPL season. Bishnoi, who was part of the Lucknow Super Giants squad last season and was released ahead of the IPL 2026 auction, was bought for Rs 7.2 crore at the IPL mini-auction in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!Bishnoi looked to be firmly on Rajasthan Royals’ radar from the outset. Once auctioneer Mallika Sagar announced his name with a base price of Rs 2 crore, the Royals immediately started bidding.
Speak Manoj Babat.
Chennai Super Kings soon entered the fray and intensified the contest. After CSK increased the bid to Rs 4.2 crore, Rajasthan Royals remained aggressive in their pursuit of the leg-spinner. The bidding eventually ended at Rs 7.2 crore, with Rajasthan Royals proving successful in securing Bishnoi’s services.Bishnoi is all smiles and says it feels like ‘ghar wapsi’.“I am happy to be back home. Ghar wapsi hai meri. From there I started as a net bowler and life has come a long way. I always dreamed of playing for my home franchise and now this dream has come true. I am very excited about the new journey with Rajasthan Royals. My family is very happy. I am waiting for the home support. I want to give them good memories this season and I want to give them Bish winickets good memories and good memories of this season.TimesofIndia.com in an exclusive interview.The 25-year-old played for two IPL teams – Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings and featured in 77 games with 72 wickets. “Life has come a long way. I have played for two teams so far — Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants. KL Rahul bhai in Punjab Kings supported me a lot and gave me a lot of freedom. I was thankful to play under Rishabh Pant bhai in Lucknow Super Giants. The best thing about playing under both – Pant and the freedom KL Rahul always gave me was that I learned a lot from KL Rahul. Rahul. He has a wealth of knowledge,” he said.“KL Rahul bhai and Rishabh Pant bhai always said, ‘Yes karna hai kar, apni field laga. I believe you.’ The best part was that they were both keepers and a lot of advice and tips came from behind the wickets whenever I bowled. Pant bhai also laid stress on the field,” the spinner added.Bishnoi was retained by Lucknow Super Giants ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction for Rs 11 crore, but after managing just nine wickets in 11 matches at an economy rate of 10.83, he was released by LSG after a four-year stint with the franchise.
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“The prize is nothing before playing in front of the home crowd. I am thankful to Rajasthan Royals and I am really excited to play for them this season,” said Bishnoi.Now, Bishnoi will share the ball with another Ravi – veteran spinner Ravindra Jadeja.“I am really excited about the lethal combo. I am eager to share the ball with him from the other end. He has a lot of experience. He has played for this team in the past. His experience will matter a lot in IPL 2026,” he said.“The googly is my main weapon. But with age I have worked on my variations. The finger movement has helped me a lot. The competition is big so you have to keep improving. I spend a lot of time in the nets and bowl the same bowlers until I get the results I want. If you want to play for a long time, whether for a franchise or for India, you have to practice something hard again and again so that you can stay every day and keep improving. in terms of bowling and delivery, you need to develop your game sense.“All I want is to hear the cheers from my home fans. I’m really looking forward to getting out in the middle and playing in front of my home crowd,” the spinner signed off.
