Varun Chakarvarthy in action. (FILE photo)
Varun Chakarvarthy has been in superb form and has been picked up ahead of Kuldeep Yadav in recent times in the T20I version of the game. Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif would go a step further and say that captains are lucky to have an ace pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, and captains can turn to him, and Chakaravarthy can change the spell in a game.
“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,” said Kaif on his YouTube channel.
“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.
Kaif, comparing Kuldeep and Varun said: “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.
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