Former Indian batter Subramaniam Badrinath reckons Varun Chakravarthy is more valuable than Jasprit Bumrah in T20Is. Chakvarthy bagged five wickets in five T20Is against Australia whereas Bumrah took three scalps.
The mystery spinner has a bag full of tricks in his arsenal and he is known to bamboozle the opposition batters with his variations. Against Australia, Chakravarthy bowled with an average of 16.40 and an economy rate of 6.83. Chakravarthy is also the number one bowler in the ICC T20I rankings.
Badrinath said on Star Sports, “Numbers tell us that Varun Chakaravarthy is the No. 1 T20 bowler in the world. He is more valuable than even Bumrah. Whenever the runs are flowing in the powerplay or the middle overs or even in the 18th over, Varun is the go-to bowler. He has gone to a different level with his game. A superb comeback after being given a chance initially and getting dropped because of fitness. But in this second phase after his comeback, he has taken his game to the next level.”
The former CSK batter said Chakravarthy will be the crucial factor for India in the T20 World Cup in February-March.
“He’s a huge asset for India, in fact, even a weapon. Going forward, with the T20 World Cup in India, he will be the most crucial factor. If Varun has a good day, there is a great chance the Indian team will have a good day,” said Badrinath (via the aforementioned source).
Chakravarthy has scalped 45 T20I wickets in 29 matches at an average of 15.69 and economy rate of 6.89.
The 34-year-old had also scalped nine wickets in three matches of the Champions Trophy and had played an instrumental role in India’s success.
The leg-break spinner will be next seen in action in a five-match T20I series against South Africa.
