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India spinner Varun Chakaravarthy who made his Champions Trophy debut during Rohit Sharma-led side's third league match against New Zealand, revealed that he was nervous after he got to know that he will feature against the Blackcaps in Dubai.
India decided to drop Harshit Rana to go with four spinners for their final group-stage game before the semifinals. The decision worked wonders as India's ball tweakers spun New Zealand batters inside out to defend its 249-run target successfully.
Chakaravarthy, who made his ODI debut just against England, just before the Champions Trophy, said that he was nervous before featuring against New Zealand because the pitch of Dubai International Stadium is not a rank turner.
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"I was definitely expecting to play for the country but on the other side I was nervous. It was not a rank turner, but if you bowled in the right places it was giving help. The way Kuldeep, Jaddu and Axar bowled, even the pace bowlers, it was a total team effort" said Varun Chakaravarthy after receiving Player of the Match.
Chakaravarthy also revealed that talking with Indian star players Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer helped him to bowl well as he was nervous during the initial stage.
"First of all I did feel nervous in the initial stages. I have not played many matches for India in the ODI format but as the game went on I felt better. Virat, Rohit, Shreyas and Hardik were talking to me and that helped" Chakaravarthy added.
After defeating New Zealand, Team India are currently on top of group A and the Men in Blue will now face Australia for their semifinal clash which is scheduled to take place at the same venue. The other semifinal clash, including South Africa and New Zealand, will play their semifinal clash in Pakistan's Lahore.
