Former Indian batting coach Abhishek Nayar has lavished praise on Varun Chakravarthy after India registered a comprehensive 61-run win against Pakistan at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Sunday. Chakravarthy returned with impressive figures of 2-17 in three overs he bowled against the arch-rivals.
The mystery spinner accounted for Faheem Ashraf and Abrar Ahmed and played a key role in India’s convincing win. Nayar, who is now the head coach of Kolkata Knight Riders and has observed Varun from close quarters, said the spinner literally goes and thinks about every single ball of an over before the match is even played.
“He is someone who really gets into details. He will spend a lot of time with the analyst. He will watch his videos. He will understand what the oppositions do. He is someone who thinks a lot. He is a bowler who has evolved over a period of time. He is a bowler who has added more to his repertoire year after year after year. Then he also tries and accesses and understands the opposition, how they can take him down, and how he can restrict them,” Abhishek Nayar said on Star Sports.
“There are small victories in what he does, how he uses the crease, the balls he delivers. He literally goes and thinks about every single ball of an over before the match is even played, and then lets his instincts take over. There is a lot of research, study, and analysis done by him, but eventually, he has the skill and temperament to deliver it under high pressure,” Nayar added.
On the other hand, Nayar also praised Jasprit Bumrah for his brilliant spell of 2-17. Bumrah plumbed Saim Ayub with a ‘magical’ yorker and also accounted for Salman Ali Agha.
“All it took is two overs. His first ball itself, Saim Ayub was lucky to get a six. His second one, a magical ball. Any fast bowler, when you are taking it away, you literally enjoy it because it feels like red-ball cricket. The second one, he is bringing it in, and the left-hander is thinking he is going to take it away, and he gets him lbw,” he said.
The former Indian batter said Bumrah always delivers in big matches for India.
“It’s an absolute masterclass. His pace was up. He was bowling more than 140 clicks, which tells you he was steaming in. They wanted the win. Bumrah in any game impacts it. High-pressure games, when you want him to come up and deliver for the team, he always does it. To have the skill with the new ball to take the ball away, bring it back in, use the slower one, is why Bumrah is one of the best in the world, if not the best,” Nayar observed.
India will next take on the Netherlands at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Wednesday.
