Former Indian spin-bowling all-rounder Sridharan Sriram has showered praise on Varun Chakravarthy for his positive impact in T20Is. Chakravarthy has consistently delivered in the shortest format of the game.
The mystery spinner has scalped 45 wickets in 29 T20Is at an average of 15.69 and economy rate of 6.89. Chakravarthy has all the variations under his arsenal and uses them with guile.
The 34-year-old recently scalped five wickets in as many games in the T20I series against Australia.
Sriram said on Star Sports, “He has evolved tremendously and bowls the tough overs now. Surya uses him inside the powerplay and in the 17th or 18th over, and whenever a wicket is needed. So Varun has become almost like Bumrah on impact in the T20 format. He is one of the pillars of the Indian bowling. Especially in Indian conditions, when he gets grip, he’ll be even more deadly.”
On the other hand, former Indian Test opener Sadagopan Ramesh said Chakravarthy realised he had to be different to reap rewards at the top level.
“He has decoded one thing really well. Because he started late in his cricketing career, he realised he had to be different. He knew he would go unnoticed or not see success if he just did the run-of-the-mill things. Because he knew he had to be different as a late bloomer, he has developed these deliveries. When it comes to bowling, Bumrah, Kuldeep and Varun will be our X-factors,” said Ramesh (via the aforementioned source).
Ramesh said Chakravarthy is ahead of Kuldeep Yadav in the pecking order. Yadav had scalped 17 wickets in the Asia Cup and he is also in fine form in the recent past.
“Unfortunately, Kuldeep and Varun may not fit into the same 11 because India’s pattern has been to not go for too many bowlers. Though we have two brilliant spinners in Kuldeep and Varun, Varun will be my first choice in that. Varun has the ability to bowl in the powerplay but Kuldeep lacks that skill in T20s. That’s the huge deciding factor. So Varun will be our biggest X-factor with the ball,” he said.
The first T20I between India and South Africa will be played at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, on Tuesday.
