After England's seven-wicket defeat at Eden Gardens on Wednesday following a tame batting display, captain Jos Buttler promised his side would "come back harder" in Saturday's next match at Chennai.Â
That is music to the ears of Chakaravarthy, whose back-of-the-hand deliveries disturbed the stumps of Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone within three balls en route to fine figures of 3-23 in a player-of-the-match performance.Â
Varun Chakaravarthy scalped 3⃣ wickets & bagged the Player of the Match Award! 👌 👌— BCCI (@BCCI) Scorecard ▶� https://t.co/4jwTIC5zzs#TeamIndia | #INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/QqqC6Sz1e1January 22, 2025
"If they are looking to have an aggressive approach, that is how T20 is," he shrugged on Friday.Â
"I cannot complain or be shocked by their approach. I am expecting that. I also have certain plans for that. Let us see what works out."Â
Chakaravarthy is enjoying a new lease of life in his second coming as an international cricketer.Â
Having taken just two wickets in six T20s in 2021, he has 20 dismissals in eight appearances since his recall in October.Â
Yet despite his recent success, the 33-year-old blanched when it was suggested he could be one of the successors to Ravichandran Ashwin, who ended his illustrious international career last month.Â
"I have not reached that level to draw comparisons with Ashwin," Chakaravarthy insisted.Â
"Ashwin has played all three formats for India and I'm just making my comeback to the Indian team.Â
"You can't think about filling the shoes of such players. Ashwin has played so many matches and taken more than 500 Test wickets. Big shoes to fill - but I'm not even close yet."
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