"Find a different method of trying to put him under pressure" - Former England captain on Chakravarthy's superb spell in IND vs ENG 2025 1st T20I
Former England captain Michael Vaughan praised Varun Chakravarthy and termed him a lovely mystery spinner after the Indian bowler starred with three wickets in the first T20I in Kolkata on Wednesday, January 22. He also urged the visitors to find a way of putting the pressure back on the Indian spinner, who has been in fantastic form in T20Is lately.
India beat England by seven wickets in the first T20I at the iconic Eden Gardens. Bowling first, the Men in Blue cleaned up the visitors for 132 as Chakravarthy starred with 3-23 from his four overs. The 33-year-old cleaned up Harry Brook (17) and Liam Livingstone (0) in one over before ending Jos Buttler (68)'s stay as well.
During a discussion on Cricbuzz, Vaughan hailed the Tamil Nadu cricketer and admitted that England will struggle against the leg-spinner unless they find a way to not only keep him away from wickets but also attack him. Vaughan commented:
"Chakravarthy is a lovely mystery spinner - kind of brings the ball back into the right-handers. Every now and again, he will just hold one up. He's not a huge spinner of the ball, but just does enough, which makes it very difficult - always brings the stumps into play. He is very consistent and also very smart. England have got to find a different method of trying to put him under pressure."
While Chakravarthy starred with figures of 3-23 in the first T20I, left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh and all-rounders Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya chipped in two scalps apiece. In the chase, Abhishek Sharma starred with 79 off 34.
"I love watching him bowl because when he gets a wicket, he doesn't celebrate" - Vaughan on Chakravarthy
Chakravarthy isn't very expressive and hardly breaks into a celebration after claiming a wicket. This is another aspect about the cricketer that has impressed Vaughan a lot. During the discussion on Cricbuzz, Vaughan said:
"I love watching him bowl because when he gets a wicket, he doesn't celebrate. He just kind of walks away in an old-fashioned kind of celebration."
Vaughan also admitted that England have a lot of work to do as far as their batting against spin is concerned:
"Today, it didn't really spin a great deal, so they've got a bit of work to do with the way that they combat spin and try to find a way of not only just surviving but scoring. In T20 cricket, you've got to find that counter-punch to put bowlers under pressure."
Chakravarthy was named the Player of the Match in the first T20I against England. In 14 matches in the format, he has 22 wickets at an average of 16.63 and an economy rate of 6.71, with a best of 5-17.