Having specialists was one of the reasons India won the Asia Cup, spinner Varun Chakaravarthy told THE WEEK on the sidelines of the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards in Mumbai on Tuesday. He was one of the main architects of India’s unbeaten Asia Cup run, which also saw India beat Pakistan three times in a campaign marred by controversy. He took seven wickets at an average of 20.42 and at an economy of 6.50.
Asked about the increasing focus on format-specific players and the role of all-format cricketers going forward, Chakaravarthy said:
“If you see the Asia Cup, India was the team with more specialists than other people. There were other teams who had many all-rounders and many part-time bowlers, but we went with more specialist bowlers and batters who can finish. T20 has become such a game that you need to have more specialists. I don't know if all-format players have their space in T20Is or other formats or not. But as of now, in T20, most specialist players are doing well.”
Speaking on the trust within the Indian camp, highlighted in recent interviews where Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma spoke of head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Suryakumar Yadav giving them the licence to fail, he told THE WEEK:
“When I made my comeback again, Surya and GG told me that they were looking at me as one of the wicket-takers for the team. And they have backed me throughout there. For that, I have to give them the credit because I was out of the team for more than three years. But I did have consecutive good IPLs. So, for them to recognise that and bring me in the team was great for me."
Chakaravarthy also spoke about what the feeling was inside the camp as political controversy engulfed the India-Pakistan matches. “I don’t know about others but our primary goal when we landed there was to win the cup,” he told one of the reporters.
“Almost all the players switched off their social media accounts. Only when they had to post something after the match [did they go online]. Because we were in another country, we maybe don't know how it was in India at that time.”