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Even after delivering a match-winning performance against England in the 1st T20I, India spinner Varun Chakravarthy's hunger to improve further remained intact.
After facing a snub in India's Champions Trophy squad, Kolkata's local hero, Chakravarthy, returned to Eden Gardens to unfurl his mysterious variations against England. In the first innings, Arshdeep Singh set the perfect platform for Chakravarthy to express himself by dismissing the opening pair of Ben Duckett and Phil Salt cheaply. He had all the time he needed to pull out tricks from his mystery box to bamboozle the hard-hitting English middle-order. On a surface where he has bowled extensively, Chakravarthy soon realised that the amount of bounce was the key to success rather than relying on turn. "I am used to seeing such pitches in the IPL. I know that it is for the seamers, but I know there are certain lengths which are helpful for me. What I realised was I can't beat batsmen with a side-spin. The only way I can beat the batsmen is through bounce," Chakravarthy said after winning the Player of the Match award. Apart from extracting the bounce off the surface, keeping the ball away from the hitting arc was another factor behind his success. In his fruitful outing, Chakravarthy caught the big fish, England captain Jos Buttler, along with Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone. When England threatened with a promising-looking partnership between Buttler and Brook, Chakravarthy perfectly executed a counter punch. Young sensation Brook was first to perish for 17, and Livingstone joined him in the dressing room in the same over with a two-ball duck. England's hope of crossing the 150-run mark solely relied on how long Buttler could survive on the crease. With the first innings approaching its climax, Buttler knew he had to eye the boundary rope. He tried to pull the ball away towards deep square leg, but Nitish Reddy came charging in to take a fine catch, ending Buttler's innings on 68(44). After the skipper's loss, England managed to crawl up to 132, which India chased down without breaking a sweat. Buttler's wicket was Chakravarthy's final scalp of the match as he returned with staggering figures of 3/23 in his four-over spell. Even with his match-turning effort that saw India clinch a seven-wicket win, he feels there is still more to do. "I am trying to keep it away from their arc, it was holding a bit. Every over, bowling in Eden is challenging. To bowl to batsmen like Jos and other guys is definitely challenging. The last over was very tricky and challenging, but by God's grace, I was successful. I'm still 7 on 10, still more work to do," he added. (ANI)
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