'A 2nd fifer in T20...': Varun Chakaravarthy's 'crazy' wicket-taking spree explained as India spinner tears into England
Sanjay Manjrekar credited Varun Chakravarthy for his attacking and brave approach in a successful series vs England so far.
Varun Chakravarthy has been the star man for India in the team’s T20I series against England so far, taking 10 wickets in three matches including a second international T20 five-fer in Rajkot. Although India lost to England by 26 runs, Chakravarthy has repaid the faith shown in him by coach Gautam Gambhir, who drafted him back into the setup after nearly three years in the international wilderness.
Chakravarthy has received a lot of praise for his quality in these matches, with England’s batters struggling to find answers or any sort of rhythm against his deception and guile. However, former Indian player turned pundit Sanjay Manjrekar argued that this new iteration of Varun has as much to do with his mentality and approach as it does with his skill in manipulating the cricket ball.
“It’s happening very often and a second five-wicket haul is crazy in T20 cricket,” said Manjrekar on ESPNcricinfo following the match. “And I have talked about the reason for it. He pitches the ball up and was not afraid to do it today as well.”
Chakravarthy has become India’s strike option with the spinning ball in the absence of Kuldeep Yadav, who played that role in the victorious T20 World Cup campaign last year. With Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi playing their roles as more defensive spin options, it allows Chakravarthy to be braver and to attack the opposition batters.
“He bowled one up to Jamie Smith, who tonked him for a six and then he bowled a little shorter, but he’s always up there, challenging the batters to go at him,” explained Manjrekar.
‘There’s always some fikri…'
Chakravarthy became only the third Indian bowler with multiple T20I five-fers, following in the steps of Kuldeep and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Chakravarthy will hope that his performances allow him to become a permanent fixture in an Indian team that is spoiled for spin-bowling options at the moment.
Manjrekar credited Chakravarthy for his approach, seeing this as a key skill of T20 cricket: “As they say fortune favours the brave, he’s willing to take that risk and that’s how he gets his wickets. The ball never sort of just pitches and goes straight on. There is always some fikri when the ball is released. He’s a hard man to get away.”
With India still in a 2-1 lead, the series heads to the MCA Stadium in Pune for the fourth of this five-match series.
