Mohammad Kaif lauds Varun Chakravarthy, says he will be number one bowler in next T20 World Cup

Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif has showered praise on Varun Chakravarthy, stating he would be the number one bowler in the next T20 World Cup, which will be played in India. Chakravarthy was right on the money in the opening T20I against England at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Wednesday.

The mystery spinner returned with figures of 3-23 in his quota of four overs. The 33-year-old accounted for Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, and Jos Buttler in his fine spell and played a key role in skittling out the opposition at 132. Ergo, India registered a convincing seven-wicket win to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Mohammad Kaif said on his YouTube Channel, “He’s also the main bower for KKR, he also led them to victory. When KKR won the championship last time, he made a big contribution, always in the middle order. He got a chance to play [for India] at 29, and now he looks like a complete package.”

Kaif added, “In the next T20 World Cup in India, he’ll be a number-one bowler. It’ll be tough to play against him. It looks like he’ll leave all spinners behind and become the number-one bowler in the Indian team. He’ll only get better.”

Chakravarthy has scalped 22 wickets in 14 T20Is at an average of 16.64 and an economy rate of 6.72. The KKR spinner has certainly shown improvement in the last couple of years and he has grown in confidence.

“He has shown improvement. Against pace, he used to bowl short, outside the off-stump. Now, his line of attack is on the stumps. Earlier, he used to bowl a lot of googlies but now he has learned leg spin. He has maintained accuracy [to get batters bowled out in between bat and pad]. A big comeback,” Kaif added.

Meanwhile, the leg-break spinner bagged 21 wickets in 15 matches in IPL 2024 for Kolkata Knight Riders and played a key role in the franchise’s success.

Chakravarthy could not deliver for India in the 2021 T20 World Cup but he has shown a massive improvement in his bowling.

“He took the wickets of Livingstone, Brook, and Buttler in the last match. He’s learned to take the wickets of key players in the middle overs. It shows that Varun didn’t give up, and never accepted defeat. He was adamant about becoming a better bowler, and felt like, ‘I’ve disappointed Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni (then mentor)’. Had a heartbreak but went forward.”

The second T20I between India and England will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Saturday.