New Delhi, Feb 21 Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has expressed his opinion on the potential playing XI for Sunday’s blockbuster clash with Pakistan in the Champions Trophy, proposing for skipper Rohit Sharma to use Varun Chakravarthy as a mystery spinner to outsmart the arch-rivals.
India, winner of the 2013 edition of the Champions Trophy, head into Sunday's game having comfortably defeated Bangladesh whereas it will be a must-win game for Pakistan, the defending champions having won the title in 2017 when the event was last held, who lost slumped to a 60-run defeat to New Zealand in the tournament's opening match in Karachi.
Asked about any potential changes that India should make for the high-pressure clash with the arch-rivals, Manjrekar suggested that although India ticked many boxes in the win against Bangladesh, the only potential change would be the introduction of Varun Chakravarthy as a mystery spinner.
“I think India were pretty good, they ticked most of the boxes. I don’t see them making any changes unless the pitch is drastically different than the last one. The only change that could happen is to try Varun Chakravarthy against Pakistan as they would not have seen him after the T20 clash in Abu Dhabi,” Manjrekar told IANS during the Star Sports Press Room programme.
Chakravarthy was a part of the Indian playing XI that lost against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2021 group stage match but it was the only time he played against them.
However, with Kuldeep Yadav remaining absent from the squad for several months because of hernia surgery, the left-arm wrist spinner may need to be given more game time in hopes of getting ready in time for the knockout stages. Kuldeep has recently returned to the squad for the ODI series against England.
“I think Kuldeep Yadav needs a little more game time so they might continue with him. KL Rahul also got some runs so if anyone was thinking of a new wicketkeeper-batter coming in then that may also not happen,” Manjrekar added.
Chakravarthy made his debut in ODIs against England at Cuttack, where he took 1-54. But he possesses an impressive List A record, having claimed 60 wickets in 24 matches at a spectacular average of 14.8.
All of this was enough for Chakravarthy, the joint second-highest wicket-taker in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy with 18 scalps, to be included in the Champions Trophy squad at the last minute at the expense of Yashasvi Jaiswal. But he was not called upon in the opening game with Yadav, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja being used ahead of him.
Yadav was not able to contribute to any of the ten Bangladesh wickets that fell in the opening game as he ended with figures of 0-43 in his ten-over quota.
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