Former Cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has opened up his views on bowler Varun Chakravarthy after his five-wicket haul in the 3rd T20I match against England where the Men in Blues suffered a 26-run defeat at Rajkot.
Chakravarthy finished with figures of 4-0-24-5, but India went on to lose by 26 runs with England staying alive in the series. He also became only the third Indian bowler in Men’s T20I with multiple five-wicket hauls after Kuldeep Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Manjrekar who made 37 ODIs and 74 T20I appearances in his international career, said that Chakravarthy likes challenging batters to attack him, inducing them to play false shots.
“It’s happening very often and a second five-wicket haul is crazy in T20 cricket. And I have talked about the reason for it. He pitches the ball up and was not afraid to do it today (Tuesday) as well.”
Not the result #TeamIndia were looking for in Rajkot, but Varun Chakaravarthy put on a solid show with the ball to bag the Player of the Match award!
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/amaTrbtzzJ#INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/D6dKptsI7M
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 28, 2025
“He bowled one up to Jamie Smith, who tonked him for a six and then he bowled a little shorter, but he’s always up there, challenging the batters to go at him,” told Manjrekar.
Chakravarthy is currently the leading wicket-taker in the series, having picked 10 wickets from three games at economy rate of 7.08. During the Kolkata T20Is, he picked three wickets while he scalped two wickets at Chepauk.
During the Rajkot T20Is, he dismissed Buttler, Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer.
“As they say fortune favours the brave, he’s willing to take that risk and that’s how he gets his wickets. The ball never sort of just pitches and goes straight on. There is always some fikri when the ball is released. He’s a hard man to get away,” Manjrekar added.
The Men in Blues leads the series 2-1 and India will be looking to seal the series win when the face England in the fourth T20I on January 31 at MCA Stadium in Pune.
