Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathans feels Varun Chakravarthy could be a huge X-factor in the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Chakravarthy hasn’t played a lot of international cricket and it won’t be easy for the batsmen to play him as he has got a lot of variations under his belt.

The mystery spinner is expected to be lethal in slow conditions in the UAE and he can trouble the opposition batsmen with his variations. Chakravarthy was at his absolute best in KKR’s match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Abu Dhabi on Monday. The 30-year old spinner returned with impressive figures of 3-13 in his four overs and rattled the RCB’s batting line-up.

The spinner from Bidar was also on a hat-trick but he was denied by Kyle Jamieson’s inside edge. Chakravarthy got the big wicket of Glenn Maxwell who tried to play a big shot but perished as he could not read the googly.

Pathan told Star Sports, “He can be a huge X-factor. You have not played him in international cricket, you have definitely played him in the IPL but the dynamics are slightly different in the IPL. When you play him in the World Cup after playing him in the IPL, it will still be different, the World Cup pressure will be different and the mystery will remain.”

Pathan recalled the instance when Zaheer Khan troubled the batsmen with his knuckleball during the 2011 World Cup and savored great success with it.

“If you remember the 2011 World Cup, Zaheer Khan started using the knuckleball in the World Cup and not before that. That was a surprise delivery. So, the surprise factor is definitely beneficial when you play a new thing or bowler. Something similar can happen for Varun Chakravarthy.”

Chakravarthy was right on the money and didn’t give any width to the RCB batsmen. The spinner will look to continue the good show and he could play a key role in India’s World Cup campaign.

KKR will next face MI at the same venue on Thursday.