Former Indian fast bowler Lakshmipathy Balaji has made a bold statement on Varun Chakravarthy ahead of the huge semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2026 against England in Mumbai on March 5.
Varun Chakraborty has taken 12 wickets in 7 matches so far at an excellent average of 15.33 and economy rate of 7.66. Although these numbers look good, in the last few matches, the Indian spinner has given away a lot of runs, including 40 against West Indies in the Super 8 game.
Lakshmipati Balaji gave a big statement on Varun Chakraborty
Ahead of the India vs England semi-final clash, Lakshmipathy Balaji said that teams have now understood how to play Varun Chakravarthy. The batsmen are waiting for his googly and attacking him in front of the wicket or playing from the backfoot.
Commentators criticized the spinner for relying too much on the “googly”, as this should be a surprise ball, not a routine one. He advised the spinners to avoid bowling too many googlies and praised the team management for helping them by bringing them on the field after the power play.
Varun Chakraborty is getting defensive about googly: Balaji
Balaji said on “Crick It With Badri”: “Varun Chakravarthy has been a favorite bowler. But since the South Africa game, he has opened the book on how to play Varun. He handled him very well, targeted him in front of the wicket and waited and played on the backfoot.
People are analyzing his bowling and the pattern of shots against him. So, he has to be a little active. I think his leg-cutter is missing. He is being defensive about the googly. This should be a surprise delivery. He should bowl slower.”
He suggested that Varun should bowl slower in the air, bowl a little fuller instead of short and bring back his leg-cutter. The former fast bowler further added, “Yes, no matter how much you practice, dew makes it difficult.”
“But he has less length. He can bowl a bit more fuller to give himself more room for batsmen to make mistakes. Perhaps he should show more confidence on the leg-cutter and bowl slower in the air.”
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Balaji feels sorry for Kuldeep Yadav, but still supports Varun
The cricket pundit feels sorry for Kuldeep Yadav as he is not getting chances in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026, but he insisted that he will not drop Varun from the playing eleven despite his expensive bowling.
Balaji further added, “Unfortunately, there is no place for Kuldeep. Who would you leave for him? I would love to have him, but there is no place. I can’t leave Varun for him. He has been important. Even if he has gone for runs, I will definitely back Varun. Wankhede is a tough place for spinners with short boundaries.”
He believes that inconsistency is hurting the batting, as only one batsman is scoring big runs for India in the current tournament. “Batting consistency is an issue. Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav. There are some concerns in the top 4,” Balaji said.
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