T20 World Cup 2026: ‘He would’ve taken at least one 5-fer’ – Aakash Chopra surprised not to see Team India star completing his full quota of overs

Former India opener Aakash Chopra expressed his surprise, wondering why the Indian team management is not bowling Varun Chakaravarthy his full quota of four overs during the T20 World Cup 2026. His statement came after the mystery spinner bowled just three overs against the Netherlands at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, February 18.

Chakaravarthy was the wrecker-in-chief in the Netherlands’ innings where the Dutch side was chasing a daunting 194-run target. The Men in Blue eventually won the match by 17 runs, with Chakaravarthy finishing with stunning figures of 3/14 in his three-over spell. He bagged the wickets of Max O’Dowd, Colin Ackermann, and Aryan Dutt. In fact, Ackermann and Dutt were dismissed off consecutive deliveries.

Chakaravarthy bowled his full quota of four overs only in India’s first game in the ongoing World Cup against the USA. In the following game against Namibia, he only bowled two overs, but it was enough for him to bag a three-for. Chakaravarthy has bowled three overs in India’s last two games against Pakistan and the Netherlands.

“Surprising that Varun isn’t finishing his quota of overs. Only once he’s bowled all 4. He would’ve taken at least one 5-fer if he was allowed to finish his quota. He Is and He Will be the most important bowler along with Boom in the next round,” Chopra wrote on his official ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) handle.

So far in the 2026 T20 World Cup, Chakaravarthy has accounted for nine wickets in four matches at a mind-boggling average of 6.89. He is joint-second on the list of leading wicket-takers in the tournament.

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