India's spinner Varun Chakravarthy said he was anxious during his game-winning performance against New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, on March 2 (Sunday). With his first-ever five-wicket haul, the wrist-spinner led India to a 44-run victory and helped them secure the top spot in Group A.
Varun Chakravarthy on Champions Trophy debut
The 33-year-old turned the tide of the match in India's favor by causing a spectacular collapse in the middle overs and recording statistics of 5/42 in ten overs. He was rightfully named Player of the Match after his outstanding effort. Chakravarthy admitted in the post-match interview that he initially felt anxious after being named in the starting lineup. But he said he was able to relax thanks to the experienced players.
“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, Hardik and Pandya were talking to me and that helped. (on when he knew he was playing this game) I found out last night. 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 Chakravarthy in the post-match presentation.
Chakravarthy destroyed Will Young's (22 off 35) stumps in the second over, taking his first wicket. In order to cause a collapse, he also grabbed Michael Bracewell's leg before wicket in the very next over and trapped Glenn Phillips in front of the stumps in his second spell. The wrist-spinner finished with five wickets, dismissing Matt Henry for 2 (4) and taking the vital wicket of Mitchell Santner (28 off 31) in the final over.
Because of his performance, India was able to build up a 44-run victory by bundling out New Zealand for 205. Chakravarthy's performance has also strongly supported his inclusion in the semi-final matchup with Australia, which is scheduled for Tuesday, March 4 at the same location.