India managed to overcome their top and middle order woes and secured a winning total at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad against the Netherlands. Despite a sluggish start, the Men in Blue were able to get to a good total courtesy of a mind blowing performance from the duo of Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya.

On the balling front, Varun Chakaravarthy shouldered the wicket taking duties with perfection and took a wicket in his first over yet again. The leg spinner cleaned up Max O'Dowd with a clean delivery and rattled the stumps. The batter couldn’t judge Varun’s leg spin and fell prey to his trickery.

WATCH wickets picked by India bowlers vs Netherlands

The mystery spinner has been one of the most consistent and impactful bowlers for Gautam Gambhir's side at the T20 World Cup. He bowls straight and the batsmen often fail to judge the flight and direction of the ball which results in their dismissal. Chakaravarthy then broke a 49 run partnership for the Dutch side with a googly against Colin Ackermann who played it straight into the hands of Rinku Singh. 

hardik wicket

Varun picked three wickets in the three overs he bowled, out of which two wickets came on two back to back balls. While Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya picked one wicket each, and Shivam Dube picked two wickets.

varun two wickets in two balls

Varun continued his magic spell and gave Aryan Dutt a taste of his own medicine on the very next ball who was dismissed for a duck. He turned the game on its head with his extraordinary bowling and dismantled the Netherlands’ batting unit. The 34-year-old maintained an economy rate of 4.67 while picking up three wickets. 

Varun Chakaravarthy has been India’s most lethal weapon at the World Cup so far. He has racked up impressive numbers without giving away much and has maintained his line and length with discipline. Including today’s game, Varun has picked up nine wickets with an average economy rate of 4.96 so far at this World Cup. His fabulous run of form has come in just at the right time for India considering the challenges ahead in the Super 8 and beyond.