Team India were staring down the barrel of a gun when South Africa restricted them for a mere 124 runs in the second T20I on Sunday. The hosts were then 33/1 at one point and it seemed like they would run away with a win. However, Varun Chakravarthy rolled up his sleeves to put on a masterclass of spin bowling. The Kolkata Knight Riders‘ (KKR) mystery spinner was on top of his game and claimed career-best figures of 5/17 to bring India back in the second T20 international.
Varun Chakravarthy with a one-man show!
On a track that offered a lot of help to the pacers, Varun Chakravarthy delivered a sumptuous spell. He danced the Protea batters on his tunes. Chakravarthy, who struck on his second ball of the spell in the last game, did the same when he uprooted South African skipper Aiden Markram’s stumps. In the next over, he cleaned Reeza Hendricks up as well. It was a beauty by the mystery tweaker, who bowled a googly to castle the opening batter.
Just when Marco Jansen and Tristan Stubbs were looking to rebuild and take the chase forward, Chakravarthy struck again! He did the trick by cleaning Jansen up with a flighted googly. But the best was yet to come! The 33-year-old absolutely turned the game in India’s favour when he dismissed both Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller. Klaasen, who batted down the order, tried to launch an attack but only found Rinku Singh at the boundary ropes. As for Miller, he was undone with another peach. The southpaw was outfoxed with a straighter one that kissed his off-stump to send South Africa reeling.
With his masterful spell, Varun Chakravarthy became the oldest Indian player ever to take four wickets or four in a T20I game. At 33 years and 73 days old, he broke Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s record who took 5/4 against Afghanistan when he was 32 years and 215 days old.
Varun Chakravarthy T20I stats since his India comeback
| Category | Stats |
| Matches (Mat) | 5 |
| Innings (Inns) | 5 |
| Overs | 20 |
| Wickets (Wkts) | 13 |
| Best Bowling (BBI) | 5/17 |
| Average (Ave) | 8.84 |
| Economy (Econ) | 5.75 |
| Strike Rate (SR) | 9.2 |
| 5-Wicket Hauls (5) | 1 |
Here is the list of Varun Chakravarthy’s performances in his last 5 T20I matches for India:
- 4 overs, 31 runs, 3 wickets
- 4 overs, 19 runs, 2 wickets
- 4 overs, 23 runs, 0 wickets
- 4 overs, 25 runs, 3 wickets
- 4 overs, 17 runs, 5 wickets
