Former Indian batter Suresh Raina believes mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy will be the main player in India’s bowling attack.
Chakravarthy has definitely impressed with his skills and it is not easy for the opposition batters to read him off the pitch as he has got a lot of variations.
Chakravarthy had a successful campaign for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2021 as he scalped 18 wickets in 17 matches at an impressive average of 24.88 and a parsimonious economy rate of 6.58. Furthermore, Chakravarthy can also bowl in the powerplay overs as well as the middle-overs.
The mystery spinner from Tamil Nadu can keep the runs down as it is difficult to pick him. Chakravarthy can also provide the wickets in the middle overs and he definitely has an X-factor in him.
Suresh Raina wrote in his column for ICC, ‘’My experience in the IPL was that the wickets in UAE and Oman will be very, very challenging when it comes to the mystery spinners. That makes Varun Chakravarthy the main guy in the India bowling attack. He has showed he can exploit the pace of the pitches. Varun has only played three T20Is, but I’m not concerned by his lack of experience.”
On the other hand, the national selectors added Shardul Thakur to the squad in place of Axar Patel. Thakur scalped 21 wickets in 16 matches of IPL 2021 and he has been in good form in the recent past. Raina added Thakur’s inclusion will give extra strength to the squad.
‘’There is plenty of experience in this team, particularly in the seam attack. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, in particular, leads the way when it comes to experience and knowledge of how to deal with the big games. The inclusion of Shardul Thakur can also give extra strength to the fast bowlers that Virat has at his disposal,” said Raina.
Both Chakravarthy and Thakur will look to continue their good form in the T20 World Cup. India will begin their T20I World Cup campaign against Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on 24th October.
