Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag believes a great season by Varun Chakravarthy for Kolkata Knight Riders would make him a contender for the 2023 World Cup. The 31-year-old bowled an impressive spell against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) picking up 4 wickets for just 15 runs. He also bagged important wickets of Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell.
Sehwag feels if Varun is consistent in IPL 2023, he might have a chance to play in the ODI World Cup later this year. Varun Chakravarthy last played for India in 2021 in the T20 World Cup after which he was dropped and never called up again. In his six appearances in T20Is for India, he picked two wickets at an economy rate of just 5.86.
“Who knows, a great season here could make him a contender for the 2023 World Cup in India,” Virender Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar are primary contenders for spin-bowling spots in the World Cup squad, but a lot of things will be decided post-Indian Premier League 2023.
Varun Chakravarthy, Suyash Sharma, and Sunil Narine damaged the RCB batting lineup picking up 9 wickets for their team. Though Kolkata Knight Riders registered their first win in the league stage, they will have a lot of things to address. They will look to correct themselves when they take on Gujarat Titans on April 9 in Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
The RCB Batter Didn’t Play Him Well – Virender Sehwag
Speaking on Varun Chakravarthy’s performance against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sehwag said that the Tamil Nadu spinner relies heavily on topspin and googlies and the Bangalore batters completely failed to pick him.
“Varun Chakravarthy doesn’t have the ball that goes away like a proper wrist spinner. He relies on topspin and googlies predominantly and the RCB batters didn’t play him well, getting played on a couple of times,” Virender Sehwag said.
Varun Chakravarthy was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2020 and was retained ahead of IPL 2022 ahead of Shubman Gill and Rahul Tripathi. In 2022, his form went downhill by so much that he was put on the sidelines for three games. He managed just 6 wickets in 11 games at an economy rate of 8.51 – his worst in three seasons.
Kolkata Knight Riders will look to continue the spin strategy in the home conditions which looks like their strength for IPL 2023 in the absence of their regular skipper Shreyas Iyer.