Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Dinesh Karthik has opined that India has a better spin attack than England but on current form, Adil Rashid is bowling better than Varun Chakravarthy. Chakravarthy returned with figures of 1-40 in his quota of four overs against the West Indies at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday.
Earlier, Chakravarthy returned with expensive figures of 1-47 in his four overs against South Africa. He bagged 1-35 against Zimbabwe in the Super 8 clash.
On the other hand, Adil Rashid has scalped 11 wickets in seven matches at an average of 19 in the ongoing T20 World Cup whereas Will Jacks has scalped seven wickets in six innings. Furthermore, Dawson has bagged 10 wickets in seven matches at an average of 19.
Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz, “India has more variety in spin. Man to man, Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy vs Adil Rashid and whoever England chooses, I don’t think there is a battle at all. In general, I would choose Varun over Adil Rashid. But on current form, Rashid is bowling better than Varun. In this tournament, the England spinners have bowled better. But they’ve also got better conditions in Sri Lanka.”
Karthik said Varun will enjoy Wankhede’s pitch bounce against England.
“Varun and Axar are due for a solid bowling performance though just like Salt and Buttler with the bat. The bounce of Mumbai will definitely be something Varun relishes. For one of the first times in his international career, he has gone for about nine three times on the bounce. But even Adil Rashid went for runs against Nepal. Bowling spin in India has been tougher than in Sri Lanka.”
Meanwhile, Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, said India will be favorites in the semifinal as they are playing in their own conditions.
“India are favorites. They are in their own backyard. They’ve played a good couple of games after the blip against South Africa. Their batting unit is in form, and the players are back with the confidence that was lacking a week or so ago. But England are very dangerous. They’ll be very brave, which comes with a bit of risk,” said Vaughan (via the aforementioned source).
India will take on England in the second semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Thursday.
