Varun Chakravarthy is a must for India in the T20 World Cup, opines Harbhajan Singh
Varun made his debut for India in the ongoing T20I series
|Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has termed mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy a must to have bowler for India in the World T20. He also revealed that the first time he encountered Varun was in a net session in the CSK camp where he was bamboozling the former Indian skipper MS Dhoni all ends up.
Varun Chakravarthy, who made his India debut against Sri Lanka in the ongoing T20I series, has left everyone mesmerized with his bowling performances. With his plethora of variations, he has been a mystery to read for the Lankan batters and especially in the second game, he was at the top of his game. The Tamil Nadu spinner ended with figures of 1/18 in the second T20I and had an ER of 4.5, the most miserly effort from either side among all the bowlers who completed their quota of four overs.
With his versatility to bowl well in different phases of the game and the mystery which he brings to the plate, several experts have backed him for a spot in the upcoming T20 World Cup, which will be played in the UAE and Oman later this year. Harbhajan Singh has also joined the bandwagon and stated that the KKR spinner is a must to have in the ICC mega-event.
"Give him some time and I still believe that if India have to do well at the T20 World Cup, the spinners have to do well. Varun Chakravarthy should be a must for India. He has everything you need in a spinner. If he needs to bring about an improvement, he should focus more on what he needs to do on the field. With time, he is going to get better and take lots of wickets for India,"Ā Harbhajan told Sports Tak, reported HT.
He added that there is nothing that Varun can't do with the white cherry in hand as he boasts all the required qualities of an ace spinner.
"I feel that is T20 World Cup material because he has all types of qualities. He can take wickets, stop runs, bowl in the Powerplay and can even bowl in the death overs. His only shortcoming is that he remains way too nervous. I spent some time with him in KKR. He himself doesn't know what he is capable of."
Both Harbhajan Singh and Varun Chakravarthy represent the Kolkata-based franchise in the IPL, but the veteran spinner revealed that it was in a CSK camp when he first encountered Varun. The offie also stated that Varun was troubling Dhoni at that time and then only, he could foresee the architect-turned cricketer representing India.Ā
"The first time I had seen him was during a net session with Chennai Super Kings. MS Dhoni was hitting the rest of the fast bowlers and spinners for sixes but when Chakravarthy was bowling, he had Dhoni in all sorts of trouble and dismissed him several times. And no one was able to hit him in the nets. That's when I had predicted that this guy is going to play for India. He has a bit of nervous energy but the more he plays, the better he is going to get," Harbhajan pointed out.
