Something he could potentially do

Former India leg-spinner Anil Kumble reckons that Varun Chakaravarthy should try and try a take few balls away from batters before bringing it in during the T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal against England. According to Kumble, the batters have played Chakaravarthy a lot better in the last few T20 World Cup games because they are only expecting the ball to come in.

Chakaravarthy will be a key bowler for India when the Men in Blue face England in the second semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2026 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday, March 5. The leg-spinner has claimed 12 wickets in seven matches in the tournament so far. However, he failed to make much of an impact in the Super 8 games against South Africa and the West Indies.

During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo, Kumble urged Chakaravarthy to mix up his deliveries and not just stick to bowling the one that comes in. He stated:

“Maybe the analyst can probably pull out how many times is he looking to actually take the ball away from a right-hander. I haven’t seen that much. Maybe that’s something that he could potentially do. Then, the ball coming back into the right-hander becomes that much more dangerous.

“Although the batters are not able to pick that every time he bowls, now it seems like the batters are only expecting the ball coming into them, and playing him that way, rather than sort of searching for it. So, maybe he needs to mix a few balls, which goes away from the right-hander, and then possibly bring that back in,” the former India captain went on to add.

While Chakaravarthy was highly impressive in the group stage, he registered figures of 1-47 against South Africa in the Super 8 round. In the match against the West Indies, he ended with figures of 1-40 from four overs.

“Put pressure on him” – Faf du Plessis on how England can tackle the Varun Chakaravarthy challenge

Chakaravarthy starred with 14 wickets when England toured India for a five-match T20I series in early 2025. However, former South African captain Faf du Plessis reckons that England can take a cue from how the Proteas batters tackled the Indian spinner in the Super 8 round. Du Plessis said that England‘s batters need to put pressure on him, forcing the sixth bowler into play. He explained:

“We saw the South African team take the positive route, put pressure on him, try and take him out of the game. I think the key is, for the batting team against India, to try and put pressure on him because if you can get that sixth bowler into the game for India, then you as a batting unit are in a place where you want to be.”

Looking at his overall T20I career, Chakaravarthy has played 43 matches and has claimed 71 wickets at an average of 15.63 and an economy rate of 7.23, with two five-fers and one four-fer.