Varun Chakravarthy bowled a magical delivery to dismiss Jofra Archer and complete his five-wicket haul during the third T20I in Rajkot. It was again a googly from Varun, which has given him ample success since his return to the Indian T20I team.
He bowled a fuller-length delivery on the off-stump line, and Archer brought his bat down but couldn’t hit it. The ball went through his defence, dismantling the off-pole in a flash, much to the surprise of the batter.
Archer couldn’t believe he was bowled and had a look at his partner, asking whether the ball actually hit the stumps. It was such a beautiful delivery that Archer couldn’t defend it despite covering the line so well, and the ball went through the gap.
Archer’s reaction summed up how unplayable Varun has been throughout this series – batters could hardly do anything to counter his variations. The English batters have tried different things but haven’t managed to control Varun and escape without giving him wickets.
Varun Chakravarthy has been phenomenal since his international comeback and has taken wickets for fun almost every time. Since his arrival last year, he has 27 wickets at an average of 10.96 and a strike rate of 8.88 in ten innings, including two five-wicket hauls.
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Even in the ongoing England series, he is the leading wicket-taker, with 10 wickets at 8.50 runs apiece in three outings and one five-wicket haul. During the third T20I, the deck was easy for shot-making and spinners didn’t have a reasonable turn to get any advantage, but Varun showed he doesn’t need helpful surfaces to agitate the batters and take wickets.
This feature of his bowling makes Varun a special and threatening spinner, and India have made the most of his form. Even when Kuldeep Yadav returns to the setup, Varun should continue as the second spinner.
His performances are too good to drop him, even if he doesn’t contribute with the willow. His bowling will ensure India don’t need his batting in this format more often than not.
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