Former Indian top-order batter Wasim Jaffer has shared his views on the underfire mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who will be plying his trade for the Indian team in the three-game series against Afghanistan in mid-September.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Jaffer pointed out that batters seem to have figured out how to play Chakravarthy, adding that the opposition batters don’t hesitate to play their shots when the ball lands in their hitting zone.
“Varun Chakaravarthy should hopefully do well because, recently, there have been some difficulties for him. It seems that teams have figured him out a little. The batsmen have figured out how he bowls. Most of his deliveries come into the batsman, and the ball doesn’t go away. When the ball lands in the batsman’s hitting zone, they don’t hesitate to play their shots. They understand that Varun generally looks for the bat-pad gap. So, this will be a very important series for him,” Jaffer said on his YouTube channel.
Further, Jaffer advised the Indian team, led by Shreyas Iyer, to be very cautious against the strong Afghanistan T20I side. He also reckoned that Afghanistan has a good chance of beating India in at least one of the three-game series.
“Afghanistan are dangerous in this format. So, overall, I feel India should dominate, but don’t be surprised if Afghanistan beat India in one match and pose a challenge. I don’t think we should take them lightly. I feel this will be a slightly challenging series. India should win the series, otherwise, it would obviously be a very poor performance,” he added.
Afghanistan squad: Ibrahim Zadran (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Noor Rahman (WK), Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Abdullah Ahmadzai, Naveen-ul-Haq.
India squad: Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Tilak Varma (VC), Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy*, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar*, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah*, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana*
NOTE: * Subject to fitness clearance
