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T20 World Cup: For a long time, it seemed like Varun Chakravarthy was India's most lethal weapon in a T20I. However, a poor outing in the Super 8 of the T20 World Cup 2026 leaves the spinner searching for confidence and a bit of spark heading into the semi-final. It was just after the India vs the Netherlands game that Kris Srikkanth called Varun Chakravarthy a modern-day T20I great. He even went on to say that he was more lethal than Jasprit Bumrah in the shortest format of the game. And the stats were there for everyone to see.

After picking up three wickets against the Dutch in his three overs for just 14 runs, Varun was leading Bumrah 30-22 in the 21 matches they had played together. Since his sensational return to the Indian T20I side in October 2024, the mystery spinner has picked up the most wickets for India in the format, with 69 wickets in 37 matches at an average of 14.17 and an economy rate just above 7.

Yet, once the Super 8 stage started, the 'Chakravuyuh' seemed to show cracks. He conceded 47 runs in four overs against South Africa.

Things improved slightly against Zimbabwe, but Brian Bennett and Sikandar Raza were able to tackle him, and the spinner conceded 35 runs at his home ground in Chennai. He did pick up one wicket, and there was hope that he would improve against the West Indies. Varun started well in Kolkata, his second home, dismissing Shai Hope. But things fell apart. He conceded 40 runs in four overs, and Varun's form is now a major concern going into the England game.
WHAT IS GOING WRONG?
One of the things that made Varun successful when he returned to the Indian team in 2024 was how well he bowled his leg-spin, along with a well-disguised googly.

He began bowling his leg-spinner with a traditional seam position and plenty of overspin.

"When Varun came on, he bowled quite a few carrom balls, but after a point it didn't deviate away [from the right-hand batter] much," his coach Prathiban told ESPNcricinfo in 2025. "So we worked on the legspin, and to make the googly, which is his best ball - lethal, we wanted to perfect the away-going legbreak."

Yet, it seems Varun has deviated from his main strength. Mohammed Kaif pointed out that the spinner has bowled very little leg-spin during the ongoing tournament, and batters are now prepared for his googly.

"Throughout this World Cup, I feel he has bowled very little leg-spin. He can work on his leg-spin because right now, batsmen are waiting for his googly. Since the ball comes into the stumps, they treat it like an off-spinner and expect it to turn inward. That is why many of them can hit him towards long-on and straight with a full face of the bat," said Kaif.