Former Indian pacer Laxmipathy Balaji has opined that Varun Chakravarthy should look to bowl slower to reap rewards in the semifinal clash against England at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Balaji highlighted that the mystery spinner is getting defensive with his googly and he should bowl it as a surprise delivery.
The mystery spinner 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.
Balaji has noted that the opposition batters have worked out a way to play Varun Chakravarthy, and he should be more proactive.
“Varun has been a go-to bowler. But since the South Africa game, they opened the book as to how to play Varun. They handled him very well, targeting him front of the wicket and waiting and playing on the backfoot. People are analysing his bowling and pattern of shot-making against him. So he has to be a little proactive. Probably, he should not bowl the googly a lot. The team management has given him a cushion, bringing him on after the powerplay in the last match. I think his leg-cutter is missing. He is getting defensive with the googly. It should be a surprise delivery. He should bowl slower,” Balaji said on ‘Cric It with Badri’.
On the other hand, former Indian batter Subramaniam Badrinath also shared his opinion, stating that Varun must change his tactics of relying on his wrong one.
“Yes, dew makes it difficult no matter how much you practice. But his lengths have been short. He can bowl a bit more fuller to give himself more chances of trying to make the batters commit a mistake. Probably he should show more confidence in the leg-cutter and bowl slower through the air,” he explained.
The former CSK batter said India will continue to back Varun Chakravarthy ahead of Kuldeep Yadav.
“Unfortunately, there is no place for Kuldeep. Who will you drop for him? I would love to have him but there is no place. I cannot drop Varun for him. He has been a key. Even though he has gone for runs, I will definitely back Varun. Wankhede is a tough place for spinners with short boundaries.”
India will take on England in the second semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Thursday.
