Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has claimed that Varun Chakravarthy will provide India a psychological advantage at ICC Champions Trophy. The mystery spinner was added to the Indian squad in the last-minute for the marquee event. Manjrekar pointed out that Varun’s familiarity of playing in UAE will come of good use for India.
“Not many people have played Varun”
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Manjrekar opined that Chakravarthy can make the lives of many teams difficult. He noted that not a lot of batters had faced the Tamil Nadu spinner, pointing out that they had seen him play only T20 cricket. He said that Varun playing for a strong side will provide a psychological advantage to the team.
“Varun Chakravarthy will make life difficult for a few teams. He’s just a bowler who is at the top of his game. Not too many people have played him as well. They’ve seen him in T20 cricket. When he’s playing for a strong team, you have the advantage of being in the game and just that psychological advantage,” Manjrekar said.
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Manjrekar further lauded Varun’s addition to the squad, dubbing it as the addition to the right department. India’s spin unit now boasts of five spinners – Jadeja, Axar, Kuldeep, Washington and Varun.
“He has had one exposure in the UAE, playing in the T20 World Cup. I think that’s a wonderful addition and in the right department. India need wicket-taking bowlers. Harshit Rana is one and now you’ve got Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy as well. The two left-arm spinners will get wickets, but mostly they are there to keep the batters quiet,” he added.
India will commence their Champions Trophy campaign on February 20 by taking on Bangladesh. They will then face Pakistan on February 23. The Men in Blue will play all their matches in Dubai.
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