He has picked two wickets in as many games in the tournament so far.
The four teams that will be locking horns in the Super 4s of the ongoing Asia Cup are locked in. India and Pakistan will move ahead from Group A, whereas Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will join in from Group B. India are in a pretty confident space in the tournament, with two wins out of as many matches. Having said that, they have made a couple of changes for their last group stage match against Oman. Varun Chakaravarthy, one of India’s prime spinners was not named in India’s playing XI for the fixture.
Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh came in to the XI, with both making their maiden appearences in this edition of the Asia Cup. However, Chakaravarthy was rested for the fixture. With a heavy schedule of white-ball cricket in the coming months, it is extremely important for the Men in Blue to keep their players fresh. And the decision to rest one of their premier spinners is taken on the basis of the same.
The last match of the group stages is being played in Abu Dhabi. Moreover, the spinners have not been as effective as the pacers at the venue. This could be another reason that the spinner was not included in the XI. The Indians chose to go ahead with an extra seamer in the attack, with both Harshit and Arshdeep in the mix.
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The 34-year-old has been crucial to India’s chances in the past. Chakaravarthy is not an orthodox spinner, and is regarded as one of the best mystery spinners in the shortest format. His ability to vary the pace of the ball is second to none. The Indian has managed just two wickets in as many matches for India in the tournament so far. However, the Men in Blue will have high expectations from the bowler from Tamil Nadu in the next stages of the tournament.
In 20 international matches in the shortest format, Chakaravarthy has picked as many as 35 wickets. His economy is a minimal 6.83, which is highly impressive for a spinner in T20Is. Moreover, he has scalped two five-wicket hauls till date and has the potential for many more.
The Indian mystery spinner has a tendency to hurry the batter, with his action and trajectory of the ball. It is extremely difficult for a batter to read the ball off his hands. As a result, batters are forced the read it off the pitch, and are caught due to the pace. To add to that, Chakaravarthy also possesses a lot of variations, the best of which is the ball coming into the right-hander. He generates a lot of drift on the ball, which can take a batter by surprise.
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