Indian spinner Varun Chakravarthy continued his solid run of form in international cricket, breaking Kuldeep Yadav’s record for most wickets by an Indian spinner in a stretch of T20I matches.
Chakravarthy has been a revelation for the T20I side since his return to the set-up last year, having last played for India in 2021 before that.
In the third T20I, Chakravarthy shined with figures of 5/24 in four overs, getting wickets of skipper Jos Buttler, Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer, which completely derailed England from 83/1 to 127/8.
Now since his return to T20Is last year, Varun has played 10 matches, taking 27 wickets at an average of 10.96, an economy rate of 7.40 and best bowling figures of 5/17.
After 16 overall games, he has taken 29 wickets at an average of 14.65, with an economy rate of 6.84, which is also impressive.
Now, he has overtaken Kuldeep Yadav (25 wickets) for most wickets by an Indian spinner in the 10-match stretch in T20Is.
Globally, he stands at number three, next to Syazrul Idrus (Malaysia, 28 wickets) and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan (Afghanistan, 30 wickets).
Indian batters faltered against an incisive England bowling attack as the visitors raised their game in a must-win scenario to win the third T20I by 26 runs and keep the five-match series alive.
Mohammed Shami made a solid comeback to international cricket after 14 months but it was Varun Chakravarthy’s bowling effort that stood out as his five-wicket haul helped India limit England to 171/9.
India should have chased down the target but the batters could only manage 145/9 in 20 overs.
India still lead the series 2-1 with the fourth game scheduled in Pune on January 31.
