World No. 1 T20I bowler Varun Chakaravarthy bowled the last over of the powerplay for India in their ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Group A match against the Netherlands and picked up a wicket on the fourth
ball itself. He breached Max O’Dowd’s defence and shattered his stumps. The right-handed batter could only manage to score 20 runs from 18 balls in the 194-run chase for the Dutch team at Narendra Modi Stadium.
The wicket of O’Dowd on Wednesday (February 18) helped Varun equal Arshdeep Singh’s record of taking at least one wicket in 17 T20I matches in a row for India. Arshdeep dismissed at least one opposition batter in 17 T20I matches in a row for India from June 29, 2024, to December 9, 2025.
On the other hand, Varun’s last failed to take a wicket in a T20I match for India on September 21, 2025. In his last 17 T20I matches for the Men in Blue, Varun has picked up 31 wickets.
Wickets in most T20I matches in a row for India
- Varun Chakaravarthy – 17* (2025-2026)
- Arshdeep Singh – 17 (2024-2025)
- Ashish Nehra – 13 (2016)
- Varun Chakaravarthy – 11 (2024-2025)
- Washington Sundar – 11 (2024-2025)
Varun Chakaravarthy’s bowling performances in last 17 T20Is
| AGAINST | OVERS | RUNS | WICKETS | VENUE | DATE |
| Bangladesh | 4 | 29 | 2 | Dubai | September 24, 2025 |
| Sri Lanka | 4 | 31 | 1 | Dubai | September 26, 2025 |
| Pakistan | 4 | 30 | 2 | Dubai | September 28, 2025 |
| Australia | 4 | 23 | 2 | Melbourne | October 31, 2025 |
| Australia | 4 | 33 | 2 | Hobart | November 2, 2025 |
| Australia | 4 | 26 | 1 | Carrara | November 6, 2025 |
| South Africa | 3 | 19 | 2 | Cuttack | December 9, 2025 |
| South Africa | 4 | 29 | 2 | Mullanpur | December 11, 2025 |
| South Africa | 4 | 11 | 2 | Dharamsala | December 14, 2025 |
| South Africa | 4 | 53 | 4 | Ahmedabad | December 19, 2025 |
| New Zealand | 4 | 37 | 2 | Nagpur | January 21, 2026 |
| New Zealand | 4 | 35 | 1 | Raipur | January 23, 2026 |
| New Zealand | 4 | 36 | 1 | Thiruvananthapuram | January 31, 2026 |
| USA | 4 | 24 | 1 | Mumbai (WS) | February 7, 2026 |
| Namibia | 2 | 7 | 3 | Delhi | February 12, 2026 |
| Pakistan | 3 | 17 | 2 | Colombo (RPS) | February 15, 2026 |
| Netherlands | 1* | 3* | 1* | Ahmedabad | February 18, 2026 |
Chakaravarthy, who has been the world No. 1 T20I bowler since September 2025, has picked up 7 wickets so far in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
He registered figures of 1/24 in four overs against the United States of America in Mumbai on February 7 and then dismissed three Namibian batters in two overs on February 12 at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
In the high-voltage Group A match played between India and Pakistan at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on February 15, Varun bowled three overs and picked up 2 wickets for 17 runs.
