IND vs PAK | Every kid in Pakistan plays this kind of bowling, quips Salman Butt as he takes a dig at Varun Chakravarthy

10/25/2021

Salman Butt opined that India made a wrong decision by including Varun Chakravarthy in their playing XI in their T20 World Cup 2021 opener against Pakistan on Sunday. Butt stated that Chakravarthy's bowling was no mystery for Pakistan batsmen, as they are used to playing against such spinners.

Varun Chakravarthy was included in India’s T20 World Cup squad, and was considered as the X-factor for the team. The 30-year-old had an impressive IPL 2021, as he scalped 18 wickets from 17 matches at an economy rate of 6.58.

The success however eluded him against Pakistan on Sunday in Dubai, as he conceded 33 runs off his four-overs during India's 10-wicket defeat.

Speaking on Chakravarthy’s ‘mystery’ bowling, Salman Butt quipped that every kid in Pakistan plays such kind of bowling in street cricket, and that the Tamil Nadu spinner was no surprise to Pakistan batsmen, since they are used to playing against such type of bowling.

“Varun Chakravarthy may be a mystery bowler but he was no surprise to us. Kids in Pakistan play a lot of tape ball cricket. Every kid in Pakistan plays this kind of bowling in street cricket, where bowlers do the finger tricks with the ball and try different variations," said Salman Butt on his YouTube channel.

Butt further compared Chakravarthy with Sri Lanka’s Ajanta Mendis, who once troubled the batsmen with his ‘mystery’ variations, but faded thereafter.

“At the start of his career, Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis also troubled a lot of teams with his mystery element. But his record against Pakistan isn’t great. After a while, Sri Lanka stopped playing him against India. We have never found any mystery in mystery bowling because we have grown up playing such kind of bowlers," said Butt.

Butt opined that India is unlikely to pick Varun Chakravarthy against Pakistan in future.

“I don’t think India will play Chakravarthy against Pakistan again and, if they do, expect the result to be the same. Just by looking at someone like Varun, Pakistan’s batters can figure out whether the ball is going to come in or go out. Whoever, the Indian analyst is, perhaps he wasn’t aware of the fact that the one who introduced mystery spin in world cricket, Mendis, wasn’t successful against Pakistan at all," Butt added.

India will next face New Zealand on Sunday, October 31 in Dubai.