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In his first-ever Champions Trophy match for Team India on Sunday (March 2), Varun Chakaravarthy picked up five wickets for 42 runs in 10 overs.
Varun Chakaravarthy becomes 2nd Indian to take five-wicket haul on Champions Trophy debut. (Picture Credit: AP)
Star Indian spinner Varun Chakaravarthy joined Mohammed Shami in an elite list of Indian bowlers on Sunday (March 2) by becoming only the second bowler to take a five-wicket haul on Champions Trophy debut. The 33-year-old spinner was included in the playing XI for Sunday’s Group A match against New Zealand in place of Harshit Rana, and he finished the match with figures of 5 for 42 in 10 overs.
Chakaravarthy opened his wicket account on the third ball of the 12th over of the run chase by breaching Will Young’s defence and shattering his stumps. Young scored 22 runs from 35 balls. His second wicket came in the form of Glenn Phillips, who was trapped in front of the wickets for 12 runs from 8 balls.
Chakaravarthy then dismissed Michael Bracewell lbw for 2 runs and completed his five-wicket haul by removing Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry in his last over of the match. While Santner was clean bowled by Varun, Henry was caught by Virat Kohli.
During India’s first match of the Champions Trophy 2025, Shami also picked up a five-wicket haul against Bangladesh for 53 runs in 10 overs.
Indians to take five-wicket haul in Champions Trophy
- Ravindra Jadeja: 5/36 vs West Indies at The Oval on June 11, 2013
- Mohammed Shami: 5/53 vs Bangladesh in Dubai on February 20, 2025
- Varun Chakaravarthy: 5/42 vs New Zealand in Dubai on March 2, 2025
Overall, Chakaravarthy is the third Indian bowler after Ravindra Jadeja and Shami to take a five-wicket haul for India in the Champions Trophy.
Varun’s 5/42 is the second-best bowling figure by an Indian in the Champions Trophy, and it also helped the Rohit Sharma-led side defeat New Zealand by 44 runs to secure a third win in a row in the Champions Trophy 2025.
Best bowling figures for India in Champions Trophy
- Ravindra Jadeja: 5/36 vs West Indies at The Oval on June 11, 2013
- Varun Chakaravarthy: 5/42 vs New Zealand in Dubai on March 2, 2025
- Mohammed Shami: 5/53 vs Bangladesh in Dubai on February 20, 2025
- Sachin Tendulkar: 4/38 vs Australia in Dhaka on October 28, 1998
- Zaheer Khan: 4/45 vs Zimbabwe in Colombo on September 14, 2002
After winning all three Group A matches in the Champions Trophy 2025, India will now face Australia in the first semifinal on Tuesday (March 4). The match between the two most successful teams in the tournament’s history is scheduled to take place at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
If India beat the Steve Smith-led side on Tuesday, then it will face the winner of the second semifinal match between South Africa and New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday (March 9); otherwise, the final match will be played between Australia and the winner of the South Africa-New Zealand match in Lahore.
Google Searches For Varun Chakaravarthy
Varun Chakaravarthy’s impressive performance piqued netizens’ interest in the spinner, taking him to the top of Google Searches in India on Monday. Searches for ‘varun chakaravarthy’ started rising around 7pm on Sunday, peaking at 9:38pm.
Most searches came from Odisha, followed by West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Daman and Diu and Gujarat.
Netizens also searched for related keywords like ‘kuldeep yadav’, ‘hardik pandya’, ‘shami’, ‘mohammad shami’ and ‘axar patel’.
For more in-depth coverage of the Champions Trophy, check out the latest Points Table to see where your favorite team stands. Stay updated on the tournament’s top performers with the Most Runs and Most Wickets leaderboards. Keep following for all the latest updates!
- Location :
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
