'Tired of saying this' - R Ashwin's candid advice to struggling Varun Chakravarthy

Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin opined that Varun Chakravarthy’s confidence goes down when he gets attacked from the start by batters.

Ashwin's remarks come after India’s thrilling semifinal encounter in Mumbai, where while defending a mammoth 253, Chakravarthy recorded figures of 1/64, the joint-second-most runs conceded by a bowler in a T20 World Cup match alongside Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya, who recorded 0/64 against Pakistan in Johannesburg in 2007 and behind Saurabh Netravalkar’s 0/65 against India in this edition.

"What is happening with Varun is not that teams are attacking him or picking him. Everyone knows that Adil Rashid has a googly. This happens with every cricketer. But if this happens, you have to be tactical. You cannot miss the lengths. Line and length variations with speed variations are important. Varun has to be spoken to," Ashwin said on 'Ash ki Baat'.

The veteran off-spinner also recommended India’s mystery spinner to avoid bowling from around the wicket to left-handed batters.

"Every time he gets attacked upfront, the confidence is going down further, because he knows he is catching up. I am tired of saying this again and again. From the last few games, I am saying this. Do not bowl from round the wicket to the left-hander," he added.

Chakravarthy’s performance against England also happened to be the joint-second-most runs conceded by an Indian bowler in a T20I innings, alongside Yuzvendra Chahal's 0 for 64 against South Africa in 2018, behind Prasidh Krishna's 0 for 68 against Australia in 2023.

Despite concerns, Chakravarthy has 13 wickets in eight innings in the T20 World Cup. He averages 19.07, but his economy rate of 8.85 is a cause for concern. India will hope that he is at the top of his game when they take on New Zealand in the final on Sunday. March 8.