'He may look blank, but is a real thinker' - Ex-India spinner on Varun Chakravarthy

Former Indian cricketer Maninder Singh feels Varun Chakravarthy will have a profound impact in the upcoming Asia Cup 2025. India's 15-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup comprises three spinners. Chakravarthy will be accompanied by Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel at the continental event, where the Men in Blue will be led by Suryakumar Yadav.

The ex-left-arm spinner complimented the mystery spinner's abilities of adapting to different match scenarios. Maninder also shed light on Chakravarthy's superior cricketing IQ. However, he was not confident of Kuldeep Yadav featuring in India's XI for the Asia Cup, though. He also admitted that India would have convincingly won the recent five-match England series had Kuldeep been included in the starting line-up.

“He’s a material somebody, who’s very smart, not many of that breed in world cricket. So, I feel that he’s going to be very effective amongst the three Indian spinners in the Asia Cup. He’s a very smart bowler. He knows how to bowl in different situations and reads batters very well. He may look blank on the outside, but he’s a real thinker,” stated Maninder, as quoted by India Today.

“I doubt if they’re going to play Kuldeep Yadav if they’re going to play two spinners in the Asia Cup. It’s going to be Axar Patel because he can bat as well and Varun Chakravarthy. If they had played Kuldeep in the Test matches in England, India would have won the series 3-1," he added as part of the same conversation.

The 60-year-old concluded that the English batters would have had no answers to Kuldeep's variations, particularly in the series-opening clash in Headingley. 

"The English batters wouldn’t have known what he was doing. They wouldn’t have read his googlies or leg-spinners. In the first Test match, they chased 371. There was no chance if he was playing on the fourth evening and fifth day that England could have chased,” he noted.

Chakravarthy is coming into the Asia Cup on the back of a fine string of performances in the Tamil Nadu Premier League. His leadership and outings with the ball were key to Dindigul Dragons securing silverware in the tournament.