Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif reckons Varun Chakravarthy has gone ahead of Kuldeep Yadav in the pecking order amid the T20I series against New Zealand. Chakravarthy had returned with figures of 2-37 in the opening T20I against the Kiwis and bagged 1-35 in his quota of four overs in the second game.
On the other hand, Kuldeep Yadav wasn’t in the best of form in the ODI series against New Zealand. Yadav scalped three wickets in as many games at an average of 60.67. The wrist spinner returned with figures of 2-35 in his quota of four overs in the second T20I after he was not picked in the opening game.
Yadav returned with 0-32 in three overs he bowled in the third T20I at Guwahati whereas Varun was rested on Sunday.
Mohammad Kaif said on his YouTube Channel, “Varun has gone slightly ahead of him (Kuldeep). Both are outstanding bowlers, but if you have to pick one, Varun is ahead at this point in time. We saw this in the earlier match as well. Kuldeep did not play. Varun and Axar played. So the planning of Team India has become very clear. If there is a choice between Varun and Kuldeep, Varun is the preferred option, and he is that kind of bowler too. He has never disappointed.”
“You can bring Varun on whenever you want in the powerplay. Kuldeep does not usually bowl in the powerplay. Varun does. The captain will never hesitate to give Varun the fourth or fifth over, worrying that he might go for 20 runs. There is no such concern with Varun. He comes on and takes wickets in the fifth over, takes powerplay wickets, takes wickets in the middle overs, and later on as well,” he added.
The former UP batter said Suryakumar Yadav is lucky to have a bowler like Varun Chakravarthy and compared the mystery spinner with Jasprit Bumrah.
“A bowler like Varun, I think, comes to the Indian team only with great luck. A captain is very lucky to have a bowler like him, regardless of the situation or the conditions. Just like with Bumrah, when the captain can say, take the ball and change the game with a spell, Varun has now come into that same league. You can say, Varun, take the ball and get wickets.”
“Varun has gone far ahead. If you talk about his control, earlier he used to bowl only the googly. Now he has learned leg spin as well. He knows that even if he gets hit for one or two balls, it’s okay, because he can get the batter out on the next ball. As a spinner, when you develop that belief in your bowling that even if you get hit it doesn’t matter because you can still take a wicket on the next delivery, that confidence is clearly visible in him,” he added.
Chakravarthy has scalped 54 wickets in 34 T20I matches at an average of 15.34 and an economy rate of 7.09.
