"I like talking to Kuldeep and build more bonds in the future": Varun Chakravarthy

India’s spin arsenal of Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy makes it impossible for Kiwis to break shackles; contribute in no small measure to Rohit & Co’s title triumph

It was well known before the Champions Trophy final that the battle was basically going to be between the Indian spinners and New Zealand batters on the slow and low pitch at the Dubai Stadium. And that is exactly how it panned out. After the Kiwis opted to bat, spin was introduced as early as the sixth over, and from that point on, the Indian spin quartet was breathing down the batters’ necks.

India ended up winning the match by four wickets with an over to spare. There was a period in the middle overs when it seemed ODI cricket was back in the 1990s. The batsmen were content to take ones and twos, to take the innings forward gradually. With not much urgency shown by the struggling batters, hardly any boundaries were coming in the middle period.

It was only in the last five overs, four of which were bowled by pacers Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya, that as many as 50 runs accrued and that was the main reason New Zealand were able to cross the 250-run mark, probably 20-odd runs more than what was expected a few overs before. Many felt that captain Rohit Sharma had erred in not using the two overs left from Axar Patel’s quota, when the batters were hardly able to get the spinners away.

Also Read: Champions Trophy 2025: Rohit Sharma and Co. defeat NZ by 4 wickets, lift title for third time

India’s Varun Chakravarthy (right) celebrates with KL Rahul after dismissing New Zealand’s Will Young in Dubai yesterday

The domination of the Indian spinners was quite apparent and with runs flowing only in a trickle, India kept a strong hold over the match. Of the four spinners, it was Kuldeep Yadav who set the tone for the other spinners by removing two batters who came into the final after scoring centuries in the semi-final at Lahore. 

Kuldeep castled Rachin Ravindra with a beautiful delivery and had Kane Williamson caught and bowled with one that dipped in late. With the two recent centurions back in the pavilion and Varun taking opener Will Young’s wicket, it seemed that India were back to the Kul-Cha period when Kuldeep and Yuzvendra Chahal, the two wrist spinners, used to bowl in tandem and chart the path for many a win in ODIs. After Chahal went out of favour, it’s been a long time that Kuldeep has found another wrist spinner at the other end.

The two wrist spinners along with a duo of left-arm spinners — Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja — were simply outstanding. It was a delight to watch the quartet spin a web around the Kiwi batters. In the 38 overs delivered by the four spinners, they conceded just 149 runs, as the New Zealand batters could hit just four boundaries and one six. On the other hand, Shami gave away 74 from his nine with nine fours and a six and Pandya 30 off just three with two fours and two sixes. There was a big difference between the way the Kiwis treated the spinners and the pacers.

The Kiwis were very circumspect against Chakravarthy, who did not concede a single boundary in his 10 overs, while Jadeja and Axar gave away just one four each. Kuldeep conceded two fours and a lone six. It is quite apparent that the Kiwi batters just did not show intent to take the spinners by the scruff of the neck and allowed the game to slip away from them. They probably thought 250 would be a winning score on this pitch. But it was not to be.

At the end of the New Zealand innings, Chakravarthy, talking to the host broadcaster, was candid enough to say that it was a good wicket, which had less turn than the earlier pitches he had played on. “It was a good wicket compared to the last one. It was not turning much. I was just trying to stick it in the wicket and wait for the batter to make a mistake. Moreover, I like bowling in the death and Powerplay as it is challenging and gives me more opportunity to get a wicket.” On his bonding with Kuldeep in the three matches in the tournament, he said: “I like talking to Kuldeep. I am pretty new to the setup and looking to build more bonds in the future too.”

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