T20 World Cup 2021: “Every kid in Pakistan plays this kind of bowling in street cricket” - Salman Butt on India’s mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt feels India miscalculated by playing mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy in Sunday’s clash. According to Butt, Chakravarthy’s bowling was no mystery for Pakistan since they are used to playing such kind of spinners.

India picked Chakravarthy ahead of the experienced Ravichandran Ashwin for the much-hyped clash against Pakistan in Dubai. The 30-year-old, who had impressed in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), caused no trouble to Pakistan’s openers. Chakravarthy ended with figures of 0 for 33 from four overs.

Downplaying the Indian spinner’s mystery factor, Butt said on his YouTube channel that Pakistan were never going to be troubled by the KKR bowler. He explained:

“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.”

The former Pakistan captain pointed to the example of Sri Lanka’s former mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis, who also failed to trouble Pakistan. He added:

“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.”

“I don’t think India will play Chakravarthy against Pakistan again” - Salman Butt

Chakravarthy was economical at the start of his spell. However, Pakistan openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan attacked him once they got their eye in and the Indian leg-spinner had no answer to the onslaught.

Butt went to the extent of stating that if India had learned their lessons from the Dubai thrashing, they wouldn’t play someone like a Chakravarthy against Pakistan again. He concluded:

“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.”

Chakravarthy apart, the other Indian bowlers also failed to make an impact in Sunday’s clash. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar went for 25 in his three, Mohammed Shami was taken for 43 in 3.5 overs.