Former spinner Ravichandran Ashwin clarified his statement about bringing mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy early in the attack against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy final and slammed the trolls for misinterpreting his remark. Chakravarthy was introduced into the attack in the sixth over of the first inning. Ashwin took to X and gave his take on India skipper Rohit Sharma’s decision. He wrote, “Varun in early! Not ideal.” Rohit’s gamble paid off as he broke the opening stand by pinning Will Young in front of the stumps. He opened the floodgates, and ‘Chinaman’ Kuldeep Yadav capitalised on the opening by weaving magic with his mastery in spin.
Some fans flooded Ashwin’s account and slammed him for his remark about the decision, saying that he was criticising Rohit’s captaincy. Ashwin silenced his critics by clarifying that his post was about how New Zealand’s early blitzkrieg forced the early introduction of the mystery spinner.
“Wonder how this tweet is about captaincy? My god this individual fan fare is madness. That tweet was for how NZ started forcing us to use Varun up front,” he wrote on X.
Chakravarthy finished with figures of 2/45 in his 10-over spell and ended the tournament with nine scalps from three matches, making him the second-highest wicket-taker in the ongoing tournament.
The high-stakes affair began with New Zealand winning the toss and putting India to bowl. Kiwis got off to a brisk start with a 57-run stand between Will Young (15) and Rachin Ravindra (37 in 29 balls, with four boundaries and a six). However, Kuldeep Yadav (2/40) applied some breaks and reduced NZ to 75/3.
A 57-run stand between Daryl Mitchell (63 in 101 balls, with three fours) and Michael Bracewell pushed the Kiwis forward. Bracewell contributed with a fine hand of 53* in 40 balls, with three fours and two sixes, taking NZ to 251/7 in their 50 overs.
Kuldeep (2/40) and Varun (2/45) were India’s top wicket-takers. Seasoned quick Mohammed Shami also chipped in with a scalp, but it was expensive after conceding 74 runs in his nine-over spell.
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