"Varun Chakaravarthy Is A Magician With The Ball": Sunil Gavaskar

Team India began the five-match T20I series with a thumping win over New Zealand in Nagpur and kicked off the final preparations ahead of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup India & Sri Lanka 2026. Sunil Gavaskar

and Simon Doull hailed India's all-round performance, Abhishek Sharma's and Rinku Singh's show with the bat and Varun Chakaravarthy's spell.

Sunil Gavaskar touched upon India's all-round performance:

"You win the first game, that’s a ticked box for sure. Yes, within that ticked box, there will be other small boxes to be ticked off, but you know it’s always good to start the new year, a new campaign, with a win before the World Cup. I think it’s always good to start with a win, so no complaints whatsoever. I think India did brilliantly to get to 238 and then they bowled really well. Yes, the odd catch went down, but all around the performance was very, very heartening."

On Varun Chakaravarthy's performance with the ball:

"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. He 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. That’s a very encouraging sign from a player who sometimes gives the impression of not having enough confidence and belief in his ability. 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."

Simon Doull shared his thoughts about India's bowling plans while defending a huge score:

"It’s quite easy to get a little bit complacent when you’ve got such a big total to defend, but I don’t think they were. Up front, I thought it was really nice starting over from Arshdeep Singh. We expect the role of opening the bowling to be Hardik Pandya’s throughout the rest of this series and through the World Cup, and they’ll use Bumrah and Chakaravarthy through the middle more often than not, so I think that’s going to be a role they’ll look forward to. The concern will be around Axar. Hopefully, he’s okay. He’s such a key part of this side, not only with the ball but with the bat in the field. So, I think they predominantly stuck to their task really well. Outside of a few bits of fielding, fielding wasn’t really up to scratch, but India were just a little more polished, I think."

On the conditions at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur and the performances of Abhishek Sharma and Rinku Singh:

"You can’t hit consistently without a very good surface. I thought it’d be a little bit lower and slower, so all credit to the ground staff and what they’ve done here in the last two years, relaying the surface completely. It was a good pitch, a lot better than I thought it was. Hitting through the line was a possibility. The ball didn’t really stick in the surface. I don’t think there was a lot in it for the spinners. The power game of Abhishek at the top is just a pleasure to watch. The way he hits the ball on the off side as well as the leg side, he doesn’t really go cross-bat a lot. It’s more of a straight bat, even off the spinners. He just rolls the wrists, gets the timing as well. Then you go through that order down to Rinku Singh, who is one of the best finishers. We saw him burst onto the scene in the IPL, maybe four or five years ago. I still think he hasn’t played enough T20 cricket for India in that time. I thought he should have played a lot more; he should have played 100 games by now. I think he just needs to be batting in that finishing role. He’s a brilliant finisher and, being such a short man but really powerful, his ability to get under the ball late in the piece makes him so hard to bowl at."

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