Follow UsPreviewing the Champions Trophy 2025 semi-final between India and Australia on his YouTube channel, Ravichandran Ashwin said two days ago that, if he were the India captain, he would open with Varun Chakaravarthy to negate the Travis Head threat.
“Don’t even give Head the option of pace, give it to Varun right away. I’ll give Head the challenge of combating spin in the first 10 overs. That will be my tactic,” Ashwin had said.
Well, on the day, India did not do that. It took 39 runs and 32 balls from the bat of Head for Rohit Sharma to introduce Chakaravarthy into the attack.
However, Chakaravarthy’s introduction ended up making an instant impact as the mystery spinner got Australia’s talisman in the very first ball he bowled to the left-hander.
Chakaravarthy tossed one up from around the wicket, and Head, tempted by the flight, looked to go straight down the ground. Notably, it was only a few balls back that Head had smashed Kuldeep straight over his head for a 98-meter six. But on this occasion, Head did not get the connection and ended up holing out to Shubman Gill at long-off, who ran 23 meters and completed a fine catch under pressure.
And so the Indian players breathed a huge sigh of relief after Chakaravarthy got rid of their tormentor.
This was a very slow Dubai wicket, but Head threatened to take the game away, flying on 39 off 32 balls. From the bat of the left-hander, it looked like more pain was on the cards for the Men in Blue. But they ended up getting the huge wicket just at the right time.
But the question remains: Did India miss a trick by not opening the bowling with Chakaravarthy? Had they done that, they could arguably have restricted him to a single-digit score. Well, only time will tell.