Former India left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan praised leg spinner Varun Chakravarthy as an all-round bowler after his stunning performance in the five-match T20I series against England. Zaheer said Chakravarthy as an all-phase bowler, who is always a big threat in the middle overs as well.

While India beat England by 150 runs in the fifth and final T20I of the series at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, February 2. Chakravarthy, Abhishek, and Shivam Dube picked up two scalps each. However, Chakravarthy was named Player of the Series for claiming 14 wickets at an average of 9.86 and an economy rate of 7.67.

Praising the leg spinner, Zaheer told Cricbuzz, “He’s an all-phase bowler. You just give him the ball in the powerplay. You’ve seen that in the series he has responded well. In the middle phase, he’s always going to be a big threat. All in all, it’s a very good area covered from the Indian bowling point of view.”

“Varun’s comeback story has been a real good one. He’s getting better and better. He’s been very accurate attacking those stumps. There’s a slight bit of drift also, so the variations are also coming into play nicely; the ball which is going away from the right-hander as well,” the former India pacer further added. “Everything is just falling into place. Wickets are backing the confidence. It’s just about keeping on this track now and continuing to do what has been working for him – almost three wickets per game in this format.”

Since his return to the T20I side in October 2024, Chakravarthy has claimed 33 wickets in 12 matches which came at an average of 11.25, with two fifers. Meanwhile, former England captain Michael Vaughan admitted that Chakravarthy was one of the major reasons India dominated the T20I series as well.

“England could not find a method to play both leg spinners, but Varun Chakravarthy has been outstanding. He’s just got the ball on a string. He’s got that ability to spin it just enough either way, but mainly back into the right-handers,” he stated.