Varun Chakaravarthy made his maiden appearance in the elite Champions Trophy 2025, the 33-year-old leg-spinner played a match-winning spell, posting excellent figures of 5 for 42 from his 10-over allocation. With this scintillating effort, he became just the second Indian bowler, after Mohammed Shami, to pick up a five-wicket haul on his tournament debut.
Varun Chakaravarthy’s Impact In India Vs New Zealand Match
Chakaravarthy was included in India’s playing XI for their final Group A match, in place of Harshit Rana, and he made a big impact. His first success came in the 12th over when he clean-bowled Will Young for 22 off 35 balls. He followed it up by dominating Glenn Phillips, leg-before-wicket for 12 runs off just eight balls.
The experienced spinner then tore through New Zealand’s batting order, sending Michael Bracewell lbw for a mere two runs. He completed his five-wicket haul in his last over, knocking over Mitchell Santner’s stumps and then getting Matt Henry caught by Virat Kohli. His outstanding spell was instrumental in India’s dominating win.
India Vs Australia In Semifinal
With this decisive victory, India topped Group A with a flawless record of three victories in three matches. The Rohit Sharma and co. will now face Australia in the first semifinal on Tuesday (March 4) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The next encounter is expected to be a high-voltage showdown, considering the historic rivalry between the two cricket giants.
