West Indies will face India today as both teams face a must-win situation to qualify for the semifinals of the T20 World Cup. The match is set to take place at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, and with the pitch likely to be flat, this will be a battle of sixes among the batters from both teams. However, Varun Chakaravarthy’s mystery spin bowling can turn the match on its head as he has played a lot of T20 matches at the venue and more so, West Indies will be facing him for the first time.
Yes, Chakaravarthy has played 42 T20Is so far in his career and not even once has he played against the Caribbean side. This will certainly be a massive advantage for India as teams tend to find it tough to pick his variations on the first attempt. West Indies’ overall record against wrist spin isn’t great either, as they have lost 67 wickets to that specific type of bowling since the T20 World Cup 2024.
Whenever teams have played Chakaravarthy for the first time in the shortest format of the game, the spinner has either been economical or has picked multiple wickets. It was only a blip against Zimbabwe in the previous game that he was taken for 35 runs but even those figures were decent as India were defending 256 runs.
Varun Chakaravarthy’s performance in T20 World Cup 2026
Varun Chakaravarthy is the leading wicket-taker for India in the ongoing edition of the World Cup, with 11 wickets at an average of 13.09 and a strike rate of 10.9. However, the last couple of outings have been tough for him. He endured his worst day of the mega event against South Africa, conceding 47 runs in his four overs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad before going for 35 against Zimbabwe.
Nevertheless, at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, the mystery spinner has picked up 33 wickets in T20 cricket at an average of 22.75 and a strike rate of 16.1. He will be hoping to add more wickets to his tally in the game against the West Indies and help India qualify for the semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2026.
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