India captain Suryakumar Yadav supports Varun Chakravarthy ahead of the crucial ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 final against the New Zealand national cricket team on Sunday, March 8 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Chakravarthy has not been in good form since the Super 8 stage of the tournament, conceding four wickets in as many matches while conceding runs at an economical rate of 11 overs.
Read the full article
The 34-year-old posted the worst T20I figures of his careeras well as India’s worst in T20 World Cup history, during the semi-final against the England national cricket team, he conceded 64 runs from four overs. Despite the poor outing, Suryakumar backed Chakravarthy and said it was a team sport and players could have off days.
“There’s nothing to worry about. We won the match. It’s a team sport and we focus on collective performances. We don’t think about individual performances when we win or lose. There are 11 players in the team. They can’t all have their best days together. One or two of them will have tough days. We try to cover them on those days,” Suryakumar Yadav said at the pre-match press conference.
He emphasized that Chakravarthy is still number one in the T20I rankings. When asked about possible changes in the team, the Indian captain revealed that the decision will be known only after the draw.
Chakravarthy remains the highest wicket
“But we’re not worried about him at all. She’s the No. 1 bowler in the world. She knows what to do, when to do it and how to bowl against different opposition. She knows how to step up and win games for us. I’m sure she’ll do that. As for the changes, you’ll find out tomorrow. You can’t know everything today, can you?” he added.
Despite modest returns in the last few matches, Chakravarthy remains joint-top wicket-taker of the tournament with 13 wickets from eight matches at an average of 19.07, with best figures of 3/7 against Namibia. Given his recent form, there has been some debate about bringing in Kuldeep Yadav in place of Chakravarthy. However, it is unlikely that the team management will make such a big call before the all-important final.
T20 World Cup | T20 World Cup Schedule | T20 World Cup Points Table | T20 World Cup Videos | Cricket News | Live Score
– The end
Issued by:
Rishabh Beniwal
Published on:
March 7, 2026 7:56 PM IST
