Team India did not seem safe even after scoring 253 runs in the second semi-final of T20 World Cup 2026 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. England seemed to be achieving a seemingly impossible target. However, this could not happen and the Indian team reached the final with a win by 7 wickets. But that match caused the most damage to Team India’s star spinner Varun Chakraborty. Such a loss that his place in Team India’s playing 11 in the final against New Zealand has now come under question.
Something happened in the practice session, the captain said something
A day before the final on Sunday 8 March team india Practiced at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. During this, something was seen which usually does not happen in Indian practice sessions. According to the report of Cricbuzz, Varun Chakraborty, who usually bowls early in the nets, did not do so this time. In his place, left arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav was seen bowling from the beginning, where Rinku Singh was facing him.
Not only this, apart from Kuldeep, Tilak Verma was also seen bowling, while during this time Varun Chakraborty kept watching him sitting on the drinks box. Before that, he bowled for some time in front of the single stump and also discussed with bowling coach Morne Morkel for some time. But his not coming to bowl in the beginning was surprising, which also gave indications about the playing-11. However, captain Suryakumar Yadav definitely said that he is not worried about Varun’s form and this spinner knows how to improve his performance.
Varun lost the radar after a good start
However, the truth is also that Varun’s form has become a cause for concern. The Indian team started its campaign to win the T20 World Cup for the second consecutive time on 7 February. At that time, along with fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, mystery spinner Varun Chakraborty was considered to be the most important link of the team in bowling. It was even being said that against India, every team will have to score maximum runs in only 12 overs because it is not easy for the batsmen to carry out some attacks in the 8 overs of Bumrah and Varun.
This proved to be absolutely correct before the start of the World Cup and during the group stage of the tournament. With economical bowling, he had also taken 9 wickets in 4 matches. But the situation changed with the Super-8 round. While Bumrah was seen consistently bowling his four overs economically, Varun was badly beaten in the next four matches.
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He gave away 47 runs in 4 overs against South Africa, 35 runs in 4 overs against Zimbabwe, 4/40 runs against West Indies and 64 runs against England. Although Varun took 1-1 wicket in every match during this period too, he gave away 186 runs in 16 overs in 4 matches only. That means his economy was 11.50. Not only this, he has been able to take only 4 wickets in 4 T20 matches against New Zealand, while the economy rate was 8.
Will Kuldeep return?
In such a situation, there is concern about his place in the final, even if the captain does not admit it in front of everyone. So will Kuldeep Yadav get a chance? Kuldeep played only one match against Pakistan in this World Cup and took 1 wicket for 14 runs. In such a situation, there seems to be a possibility of him getting a chance. However, coach Gambhir and captain Surya are among those who give extra chances. In such a situation, it should not be surprising if Varun gets one last chance.