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Indian spinner Varun Chakravarthy continued his solid run of form in international cricket, breaking Kuldeep Yadav's record for most wickets by an Indian spinner in a stretch of T20I matches.
Chakravarthy has been a revelation for the T20I side since his return to the set-up last year, having last played for India in 2021 before that. During the third T20I, Chakravarthy shined with figures of 5/24 in four overs, getting wickets of skipper Jos Buttler, Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer, which completely derailed England from 83/1 to 127/8. Now since his return to T20Is last year, Varun has played 10 matches, taking 27 wickets at an average of 10.96, an economy rate of 7.40 and best bowling figures of 5/17. After 16 overall games, he has taken 29 wickets at an average of 14.65, with an economy rate of 6.84, which is also impressive. Now, he has overtaken Kuldeep Yadav (25 wickets) for most wickets by an Indian spinner in the 10-match stretch in T20Is. Globally, he stands at number three, next to Syazrul Idrus (Malaysia, 28 wickets) and Afghanistan's Rashid Khan (Afghanistan, 30 wickets). Coming to the match, India won the toss and opted to bowl first. Despite a fine 76-run stand between Ben Duckett (51 in 28 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and skipper Buttler (24 in 22 balls, with a four and six), England lost wickets to spinners regularly. Despite a fighting 43 in 28 balls by Liam Livingstone (one four and five sixes), England could score just 171/9 in their 20 overs. Chakravarthy (5/24) was the top wicket-taker for India, with Hardik Pandya getting two wickets as well. Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel also got a wicket each. (ANI)
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