The star spinner has claimed 18 wickets in six games in the tournament
As the Champions Trophy 2025 looms closer, players hoping to make the cut for the 15-player squad are bound to be motivated to prove themselves. With the Vijay Hazare Trophy entering its knockout phase, one of them put his best foot forward after overcoming a beating early on.
In the pre-quarterfinal match between Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu at Vadodara, Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Varun Chakravarthy was taken to the cleaners in his first four overs as he conceded 38 runs. Opener Abhijeet Tomar and Rajasthan skipper Mahipal Lomror went after every Tamil Nadu bowler as they put on 160 for the second wicket taking the score to 184/1 by the 31st over.
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Their hopes of a big total were dashed when Varun bowled Lomror and then triggered a collapse. The wrist spinner claimed five wickets in the space of just 14 runs in his next five overs as Rajasthan tumbled down to 267 all out in 47.3 overs.
Varun, who last played in a T20I during India’s tour of South Africa in November, has been excellent for Tamil Nadu. This is his second five-wicket haul in the Vijay Hazare Trophy after claiming 5-9 against Mizoram in Tamil Nadu’s penultimate group game.
With the latest fifer, Varun has taken his tournament tally to 18 wickets in six matches.
He is yet to make his ODI debut for India and has so far played 13 T20Is and claimed 19 wickets.
The challenge for India, though, is balancing their spin options. Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel are available as spin-bowling all-rounders. Kuldeep Yadav is expected to regain fitness by January 20 and should be available for the Champions Trophy.
Including Varun Chakravarthy as a fourth spinner might not be feasible unless they decide to only pick one out of Jadeja, Axar and Sundar. The other case for him is if Kuldeep hasn’t gained full fitness by then or if the selectors deem a marquee ODI tournament too early for the wrist spinner after his injury break.
If this arises, Varun not only has a chance to make the 15, but also the final XI as the specialist spinner instead of Kuldeep. The odds of both Kuldeep and Varun playing together are slim considering India’s tail would become lengthy.
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Tamil Nadu finished second in Group D after winning four games and losing one while one match was abandoned. Rajasthan, meanwhile, were the runners-up in Group B behind Maharashtra after winning five games and losing two. Despite the middle-order failure, they will take solace from the performances of Tomar who scored 111 and Lomror scoring 60 off 49 balls. Wicket-keeper batter Kartik Sharma also added a vital 35 off 28 balls.
Rajasthan took the confidence from their top-order as a collective bowling effort survived early onslaught by N Jagadeesan (65 off 52 balls) and restricted Tamil Nadu to 248 all out to win by 19 runs. Varun managed to score 18 runs at the end, but it was too late for Tamil Nadu.
Rajasthan will now face Vidarbha in the quarterfinal at Vadodara on Sunday.
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