Varun Chakravarthy has been India's ace spinner in the shortest format, and will be their trump card in the T20 World Cup 2026.
The smile on the face of Suryakumar Yadav while spinning the coin at the toss was a bit wider than usual. And why wouldn’t it be, with a lead of 2-0 in the series. However, India have not included Varun Chakaravarthy in the playing XI for the third T20I in Guwahati.
The Men in Blue have chosen to rest two of their ace bowlers in Varun Chakravarthy and Arshdeep Singh, both of whom are vital ingredients to their recipe of a complete T20 game. With the workload management bit kicking in, the management chose to rest the mystery spinner after two games.
The Men in Blue made two changes to their playing XI, with Jasprit Bumrah and Ravi Bishnoi coming into the scheme of things. While Bumrah featured in the first T20I, the leg-spinner will be playing his maiden match of the series.
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The Indians have opted to rest the mystery spinner from Tamil Nadu in the 3rd IND vs NZ T20I. Though the call comes with his workload in mind, the fact that the T20 World Cup 2026 is just on the horizon will also play a part in the decision.
In the two innings that he bowled in, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) spinner picked up two wickets and was taken for 72 runs at an economy of nine runs an over. Glenn Phillips seemed to be picking Chakravarthy from his hands, and took him to the cleaners in the first T20I.
Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar mentioned in the pre-match discussion that it will be important for the Men in Blue to preserve the mystery for the Indian spinner heading into the World Cup. However, with all the videos out there on the internet, teams will have enough to prepare for the Varun Chakravarthy threat.
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