India spinner Varun Chakravarthy has praised fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah with an interesting D Gukesh and Magnus Carlsen example. Chakravarthy has been on a rapid rise in international cricket ever since his comeback in October 2024 as he played a pivotal role in India’s Champions Trophy 2025.
Courtesy of his consistent performances, he’s also achieved the number one rank in T20I bowling rankings. However, despite sitting at the pole position, Chakravarthy feels that he’s still not the best bowler in the world as there are others who are far ahead of him.
Chakravarthy drew parallels with Chess World Champion D Gukesh and the legendary Magnus Carlsen to explain that he might be ranked number one in T20Is, but .
“I follow chess now. When Gukesh won the championship, he told I might be the World Champion right now, but everyone knows Magnus Carlsen is the number one player. So I might be ranked number one, but the number one is always Jasprit Bumrah. There are Sunil Narine and Rashid Khan. I am doing well, but still some time to go before I can reach that stage,” said Chakravarthy on Breakfast with Champions.
Ever since making his comeback in T20Is, Chakravarthy has scalped 38 wickets from 18 innings at an average of 12.94 and an economy of 7.23. He also played a key role in India’s Champions Trophy victory, being the second-highest wicket-taker of the tournament with nine wickets from just three matches at an average of 15.11 and an economy of 4.53.
Recently, he also took seven wickets from six innings in India’s Asia Cup 2025 triumph at an average of 20.42 and an economy of 6.50. He currently sits at the top of the T20I bowling rankings with 803 ratings.