Dubai : Following his match-winning five-wicket haul against New Zealand in the final league stage of ICC Champions Trophy, Indian spinner Varun Chakravarthy opened up on redeeming himself after a horror outing in T20 World Cup 2021 at the same venue and how he structures his bowling in ODIs.
After three wicketless and nightmarish fixtures during T20 World Cup 2021, Varun's Dubai story met its redemption arc as he took a five-wicket haul in only his second ODI to guide India to a fighting win over New Zealand and help them end the league stage with three wins in three games. He won the 'Player of the Match' award for his match-winning performance which ripped through the Kiwis' middle order.
Speaking in the post-match presser, Varun said, "In 2021, we did not have a - I did not, personally, I did not have a great tournament here (India was knocked out in the Group Stages). But I do feel that I did bowl decently. But the results were not our way. But it looks good right now. And Team India is doing well. And the combinations have set very well so it feels good."
"During the first spell of mine, I was a little nervous because the previous things, the emotions and all, were playing whatever happened in the last three years before in this ground. Where little bit, it was playing with me and I was trying to keep it down, control it. But Virat bhai, Rohit (Sharma) and even Hardik (Pandya), they were telling calm down, calm down. They were coming and talking to me. That really helped," he added.
Speaking on his approach to ODI bowling, Varun said that his "sequencing of balls" is way different in the 50-over format as compared to T20s. "That I was able to figure out when I played the last two years in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (India's leading one-day domestic competition, finishing with 18 wickets in six matches last season). It really helped me to understand when I can bowl my incoming delivery or outgoing delivery or the straighter one or the top spin, whatever it is. But that gave me a sense of awareness of when to bowl, it is completely different from what I do in the T20. So, yeah, that it took me a lot of playing," added the spinner.
Speaking on playing Australia in the semifinal, Varun said that no team can be taken lightly. "Any team that comes, we have to give our best," he concluded. Coming to the match, NZ won the toss and elected to bowl first. Indian top-order failed and Men in Blue were reduced to 30/3. A 98-run stand between Iyer (79) and Axar Patel (42 in 61 balls, with five fours and a six) brought India back into the game. However, the dismissal of Iyer and KL Rahul (23 in 29 balls, with a four) reduced India to 182/6. A 41-run stand between Ravindra Jadeja (16 in 20 balls, with a four) and Hardik Pandya (45 in 45 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) helped India reach 249/9 in their 50 overs.
Matt Henry's pace worked well for the Kiwis as he picked 5/42 in his eight overs. During the run-chase of 250 runs, the Kiwis kept losing wickets regularly. Kane Williamson (81 in 120 balls, with seven fours) kept the team in the fight, but spinner Varun Chakravarthy (5/42) unleashed a spin web that bamboozled the Kiwis' middle order. Kuldeep Yadav also took 2/56 in 9.3 overs, while Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja took a wicket each.