Yuzvendra Chahal and Aakash Chopra have criticized Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav for his handling of the team’s biggest weapon Varun Chakravarthy in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026.
Even after a close 17-run win over Netherlands in their last Group A match at the Narendra Modi Stadium, serious questions have been raised over Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy with Varun Chakravarthy not getting his full four overs in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026.
Varun Chakraborty shines despite not getting full overs in T20 World Cup 2026
The mystery spinner once again changed the course of the match. While defending 194 runs, Varun broke the back of Dutch batting. He performed brilliantly by taking 3 wickets for just 14 runs in three overs. He removed Max O’Dowd, Colin Ackerman and Aryan Dutt.
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Two of those wickets came on back-to-back balls, and with the Netherlands well behind in the game, the Indian spinners were still not allowed to complete their quota of four overs in Ahmedabad. This is not the first time. Except for the opening match against the United States, where he bowled all four overs, Varun has been used only for two or three overs in other games of the tournament.
Varun Chakravarthy bowled just two overs against Namibia and still took three wickets and then he was sent on for only three overs, and yet, the spinner performed brilliantly, taking two wickets for just 17 runs against Pakistan. Now against Netherlands he once again bowled only three overs.
Yuzvendra Chahal and Aakash Chopra targeted Suryakumar Yadav over the use of Varun Chakraborty.
After the defending champions’ close win, Aakash Chopra openly said that it is shocking to see such a match winner not completing his full quota. He strongly believes that if Varun Chakravarthy had bowled all four overs regularly, he could have even taken five wickets in the group stage.
Chopra posted,
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Soon after Chopra’s assessment, Yuzvendra Chahal supported his fellow cricket pundit’s view and hinted that Varun deserves better treatment by Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir. Sharing Chopra’s post on X, Chahal wrote, “Can’t agree more, bhaiya .”
Couldn’t agree more with this brother https://t.co/xtXh4VUBbO
– Yuzvendra Chahal (@yuzi_chahal) 18 February 2026
Varun’s magic
The figures further fuel the debate. Varun Chakraborty has already taken nine wickets in four matches of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026. His average is below seven, which is really fantastic. He is currently jointly second in the list of highest wicket takers in this tournament.
One day break for India before the big Super 8
Well, India finished the group stage of T20 World Cup 2026 as an unbeaten team. They defeated USA, Namibia, Pakistan and Netherlands in Group A. Now, the Men in Blue will take a day break on Thursday, February 19 before the next round. They will next face South Africa and Zimbabwe in the Super 8 round of the showpiece event.