Former Indian batter Subramaniam Badrinath has urged Varun Chakravarthy to change his thinking amid the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026. Chakravarthy wasn’t at his absolute best against South Africa and Zimbabwe and he would look to turn the tables in the all-important match against the West Indies
Badrinath noted that Chakravarthy looks to bowl the googly from the get-go and he should be more patient in his approach. Chakravarthy returned with figures of 1-35 in his quota of four overs against Zimbabwe, whereas he conceded 47 runs in his four-over spell against South Africa and bagged one wicket.
Badrinath said on his YouTube Channel, “He has to change his thinking. He immediately bowls the googly from the word go, which all the batters are ready for. So they smash him to the leg side straight away. So he has to make that tactical change. Everyone has figured out through analytics that he only bowls a googly off his first delivery. He is not bowling the ball going away that much, so everyone is playing him for the incoming delivery. That’s not troubling the batters at all. So Varun must reassess, as he looks slightly sorted out.”
The former CSK batter said Varun’s indifferent form is putting more pressure on Jasprit Bumrah.
He added, “This is placing additional pressure on Bumrah, forcing him to deliver. If Varun has a bad day, Arshdeep, Axar, and Bumrah have to bowl well. But the West Indies aren’t good at reading such mystery spinners, so I have confidence Varun Chakaravarthy will return to form.”
Meanwhile, Shivam Dube conceded 46 runs in two overs he bowled against Zimbabwe and Badrinath said the medium pacer is not convincing as a sixth-bowler.
“Varun is a trump card for India. If he goes for runs, India are forced to give Dube the ball, which means trouble for them. Dube isn’t a convincing sixth bowler. The lone concern from the Zimbabwe outing was Shivam Dube’s bowling. He went for too many runs. As a sixth bowling option, if you can’t trust him even against Zimbabwe, then how can you trust him against the West Indies?” said Badrinanth (via the aforementioned source).
India will take on the West Indies at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Sunday.
