Varun Chakaravarthy’s inclusion in the Indian playing XI on Sunday proved to be game-changer in their final Group A fixture against New Zealand. The 33-year-old made his first appearance in the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025, and was simply unplayable as he returned with figures of 5/42 in 10 overs.
Chakaravarthy’s performance also gives India skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir a selection headache for the semi-finals. Considering his Man of the Match display, he looks undropable for the upcoming semi-final against Australia.
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‘Will surely play semis’: Mohammad Kaif
The KKR star’s performance sent fans and former players into a state of frenzy, as people took to social media to hail the spinner. India legend Mohammad Kaif joined the bandwagon and lavished praise on the spinner, and predicted that he would ‘surely play’ in the semi-finals vs Australia.
“Varun Chakravarthy... What a story. Wicketless in 3 games during 2021 T20 World Cup, dropped for 3 years, back in Dubai, sits out for 2 games and now a five-wicket haul plus MoM on his 2nd ODI. Varun will surely play semis. No way India will miss the chance to psyche the Aussies,” Kaif wrote.
{{/usCountry}}“Varun Chakravarthy... What a story. Wicketless in 3 games during 2021 T20 World Cup, dropped for 3 years, back in Dubai, sits out for 2 games and now a five-wicket haul plus MoM on his 2nd ODI. Varun will surely play semis. No way India will miss the chance to psyche the Aussies,” Kaif wrote.
{{/usCountry}}Chakaravarthy’s fifer was pivotal as it saw New Zealand get bowled out for 205 in 45.3 overs, in their chase of 250 runs. Winning 44 runs, India climbed to top of Group A and New Zealand finished in second position. Meanwhile, the Kiwis will take on South Africa in the other semi-final.
Chakaravarthy is remembered by fans for his performance in the 2021 T20 World Cup, where he was chosen ahead of the likes of R Ashwin, and had a poor tournament, where he went wicketless in three fixtures.
Three years after that tournament, he returned back to the T20I side for a home series vs Bangladesh last year. In his last 12 T20Is since his India comeback, he has taken 31 wickets, out of which 14 came in five fixtures vs England in the recent series, which also saw him get his maiden ODI call-up against the same team.
In his ODI debut, he returned with figures of 1/54, but Rohit and Gambhir look convinced by his skillset. The KKR spinner is a highly-valuable weapon for any team in spin-friendly conditions and is also their X-factor.