Former Indian batter Kris Srikkanth questioned Suryakumar Yadav’s leadership after the T20 World Cup 2026 match against Namibia, which the hosts won comprehensively by 93 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Thursday.
Varun Chakravarthy returned with impressive figures of 3-7 but Srikkanth wasn’t impressed that he was given only two overs by SKY. The mystery spinner struck with his first ball as he clean bowled Louren Steenkamp. Furthermore, Chakravarthy accounted for Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton and JJ Smit.
Thus, he played an instrumental role in skittling out Namibia at 116. Srikkanth said Varun had a golden opportunity to complete a five-wicket haul.
Kris Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel, “This concept of protecting a bowler and not exposing him is absurd. Next lock him inside a room. I am sure Varun must be upset. I feel for him, as it was an opportunity was a five-wicket haul in a World Cup. How many people can get five wickets in a World Cup? But what a spell, his confidence must be sky high. Nobody knows how to play him.”
“I could not comprehend it at all. What’s the logic of not exposing him? Everyone has seen his bowling 1000 times on TV, and teams have played his bowling enough now. So what’s the point of hiding him? Three wickets in two overs, so another two overs would have given him a minimum of six wickets. He should have continued bowling and finished them completely. He should have decimated them. Instead of that, India dragged the match till the final overs.”
On the other hand, Jasprit Bumrah was given the ball after the Powerplay overs and the 1983 World Cup winning player said the game can get over if the gun fast bowler bowls early.
“How can you not bowl Bumrah in the powerplay? I don’t understand the logic behind this. Is he some average bowler to come after the sixth over? It’s hard to understand why Bumrah is not opening the bowling. Are you protecting Bumrah also now? If he bowls at the start, the matches can be finished straightaway,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).
India will next take on arch-rivals Pakistan at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, on Sunday.
