Sunil Gavaskar lavishes praise on this India bowler's body language despite expensive spell vs NZ

Legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar hailed Varun Chakravarthy for his bowling performance against New Zealand in the first T20I of the five-match series. The mystery spinner proved to be one of the side's best bowlers on the day as they restricted the Kiwis to 190/7 after being handed a target of 239. Chakravarthy recorded figures of 2/37 after bowling his quota of four overs against the Kiwis.

Gavaskar remarked that even though Chakravarthy did look a little rusty and conceded multiple sixes, he didn't change his body language at any point and ended up picking two valuable wickets. He then went on to label the spinner as a "magician" and praised him for not being fazed despite going for runs.

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“Varun looked a little rusty, but that’s understandable. He picked up two wickets and the economy rate, when the batters are going hell-bent for leather, was pretty decent as well. The important thing is that his body language was good. Often, you know, his body language, sometimes when he’s taken for a few runs, can be a little bit down. That didn’t happen,” Gavaskar said on JioHotstar.

“He (Varun) was walking back to the mark, upright, wasn’t looking fazed by the fact that he’d been hit for a couple of sixes, and that’s always a very good sign. He’s a magician, make no mistake. He bowls brilliantly. So yes, in this format or even in the 50-over format, which will be expensive, he just has to believe, ‘Yes, next over I’m going to get my two wickets,’ and that’s what he does.” he added.

Chakkravarthy's costly but important spell

While the 34-year-old was expensive on the day and gave away runs at an economy-rate of 9.25, the wickets that he took proved to be quite important for India's victory. He first dismissed opener Tim Robinson for 21 runs in the seventh over. The wicket saw the visitors lose their entire top-order and go down to 52/3. They looked to be back on track with the 79-run partnership between Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman.

India hand comprehensive defeat to NZ

However, after Axar Patel got the rid of Phillips for 78 in the 14th over, Chakravarthy racked up the wicket of Chapman for 39 in the next over. The wicket saw New Zealand go completely towards the back-foot and get restricted down to 143/5. They would eventually lose the match by 48 runs. India have taken a 1-0 lead in the series and will be aiming to make it two wins in a row in the second T20I of the assignment that will be held on January 23 in Raipur.